Roman Abramovich's latest toy: M/Y Eclipse

Roman Abramovich‘s latest toy is the luxury yacht M/Y Eclipse. Constructed by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg, it is 170 metres long which makes it the world’s longest yacht, 11 metres longer than Sheikh Mohammed‘s. She comes with two helipads, two swimming pools, 11 guest cabins, three launch boats and a mini-submarine, and requires a crew of 70 for her operation. She is also equipped with some interesting security features including an anti-paparazzi shield which will detect CCDs (as used in digital photography) and fires a bolt of light at any suspecting photographer to prevent images from being obtained.

Construction costs of the vessel are estimated at $1.2 billion, hugely in excess of the original $485 million estimate. She was launched in June 2009 (see video below) and is currently in Demark for final tests before being delivered to Abramovich some time next year.