Completed by Hamburg-based Blohm + Voss in 2010 and refurbished in 2015, luxury motor vessel Eclipse is the second biggest private yacht in the world, with a length of 162.5m and an estimated price tag of €340m.

Credit: Wikipedia

Eye-popping facilities on board include 24 cabins for up to 36 guests. With 17 VIP staterooms, a couple of helipads, two pools, an outdoor bar, various hot tubs, a Jacuzzi, spa and gym and even a disco hall, a crew of around 70 is required just to keep the yacht afloat and look after the guests - who can spread themselves across various generously sized deck areas.

Eclipse’s stunning interior and exterior designs are the work of Terence Dinsdale. Built with an aluminium superstructure and steel hull, a state-of-the-art stabilisation system reduces rolling motion effect for smoother cruising. Her maximum cruising speed is 21.5 knots, while cruising speed is generally 20 knots.

Launched in June 2009, Eclipse arrived in Denmark in December of the same year for ocean trials. Her owner, Roman Abramovich, took delivery of the yacht in 2010. She travels every winter to St Martin in the Caribbean to collect guests, before sailing to nearby St Barts where Abramovich has a home.

Roman Abramovich himself, of course, needs little introduction. Outside his native Russia, the multi-billionaire entrepreneur and businessman is best known for his ownership of Chelsea Football Club - he took ownership of the companies controlling the West London side in June 2003.

His ownership saw the introduction of an ambitious development programme and since then, the team has garnered 13 major trophies, from the UEFA Europa League to the FA Cup and the League Cup. In 2010, the club won its first FA cup and league double. Abramovich still attends almost all Chelsea matches, often visiting players in their dressing room after the game.

Abramovich was born into poverty and was an orphan at the age of two. His business career began during Army service and he has also worked as a mechanic and street trader. At one point during Perestroika, he sold imported rubber ducks from a Moscow flat - a venture which ultimately allowed him to establish an oil business. He eventually took over the Sibneft oil company, completing a merger that made it the world’s fourth largest oil firm.

He has also traded in commodities and earned his money from pig farms, oil conglomerates (among other ventures) and by investing in other enterprises. Bodyguard recruitment, tyre re-treading and oil products have all contributed to his wealth at one time or another. In the early 1990s alone, he set up and liquidated at least 20 businesses. By 1999, he was a tycoon and today he is among the richest men in the world.

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