When one helipad on your private yacht just isn't enough...

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1192640/Admiral-Abramovich-launches-300million-mega-yachtski-The-worlds-biggest-submarine.html

I guess one helipad is for MY helicopter, and one for my visiting guest(s)?  Ah, to have these types of problems.

557 feet long.

It is the biggest private yacht in existence and comes with a missile-detection system, two helipads, a luxury spa, swimming pool and a miniature submarine.

But when you're Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, only the most ostentatious displays of wealth will do.

His latest baby is the Eclipse, a 557-footer reported to have cost a staggering £300million.
Enlarge   Abramovich

Eclipsing the opposition: Roman Abramovich's new yacht slides out of the ship-yard in Hamburg, Germany. It comes with a raft of features including two heli-pads, a pool and a missile-detection system

As it glided out of the Blohm & Voss shipyard, in Hamburg, Germany, it was so breathtaking that many stopped to watch, barely able to believe their eyes.

To keep the oligarch safe, the Eclipse has a military-grade missile defence system, armour-plating around Abramovich's master suite and bullet-proof windows.

There is also a private submarine, which doubles as an escape pod.

The project has been shrouded in such secrecy that at one point the shipbuilders would only say that a yacht called Eclipse was being built somewhere in Germany. Needless to say, they would not confirm who had bought it.

But there is little doubt that 40-year-old Abramovich who already owns four luxury vessels, is the proud owner.

According to industry experts, the Eclipse has been specifically designed to overshadow the world's current largest private yacht, a 525-footer owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai.

Abramovich's new toy is due to be delivered in 2010 and will join the rest of his fleet. None of his ships  - the Pelorus (377ft), the Ecstasea ( 282ft) and the Sussurro (161ft) - are insubstantial but the Eclipse will dwarf them all.

The oil magnate, who is the 11th richest man in the world according to Forbes, uses his yachts for very specific purposes.

Originally built for a Saudi sheikh, the Pelorus is used for entertaining and boasts room for 22 guests and 40 staff. It has two helipads, an indoor pool and a steam room.

He uses the Ecstasea, which comes complete with Chinese-themed interior, for cruising and the Sussuro for short journeys and to loan to friends.

Annual overhead for the boats is more than £15million, and it costs him £73,000 just to fill up the tanks of his current largest boat, Pelorus.

The son of Jewish parents, Abramovich began his business career selling plastic ducks from a grim Moscow apartment but, within a few years, his vast wealth spread from oil conglomerates to pig farms.

Russia's richest man has flourished under president Vladimir Putin, with critics saying he used his government ties to take over former state-owned assests and reap the profits for personal use.

Outside of Russia, the 41-year-old is known as owner of the Chelsea Football Club. He is also known to entertain players and British financiers on his yachts.

Abramovich reportedly lost up to £13billion in the global financial crisis, but he was already in the process of having his biggest-ever yacht built.

Jamis, you better get Wifey McMoneybags back to work.  You're losing ground to these guys.

I do have one question for you more military-saavy folks:  What good is a missile detection system?  Unless you can somehow stop the missile with patriots or miniguns, what's the value of a few seconds warning before getting hit with a mach 5 missile?

[AJ Dual]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1192640/Admiral-Abramovich-launches-300million-mega-yachtski-The-worlds-biggest-submarine.html

I guess one helipad is for MY helicopter, and one for my visiting guest(s)?  Ah, to have these types of problems.

557 feet long.



Jamis, you better get Wifey McMoneybags back to work.  You're losing ground to these guys.

I do have one question for you more military-saavy folks:  What good is a missile detection system?  Unless you can somehow stop the missile with patriots or miniguns, what's the value of a few seconds warning before getting hit with a mach 5 missile?

I would guess that it's related to some undeclared capabilities that are active countermeasures. Jamming, flares, chaff...

[mgdavis]

Infrared Lasers. I'm sure the Russians have a system similar to ours, and a multi-billionaire could obtain it easily.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/systems/laircm.htm

[Balog]

Honestly, I'd hate to be that rich. When you need bodyguards around your family 24/7 to prevent kidnapping, and an anti-missile system on your boat....

But then I'm kinda weird that way.

[Seenterman]

To keep the oligarch safe, the Eclipse has a military-grade missile defence system, armour-plating around Abramovich's master suite and bullet-proof windows.

There is also a private submarine, which doubles as an escape pod.

Damn, talk about a real life Bond villian. A freaking escape pod submarine!

Who wants to bet his next project is a moon based death laser? Or maybe pirahnas with lazer beams attached to thier heads.

[Jamisjockey]

Honestly, I'd hate to be that rich. When you need bodyguards around your family 24/7 to prevent kidnapping, and an anti-missile system on your boat....

But then I'm kinda weird that way.

My sympathy only goes so far.  A boat like that kind of stands out, even amongst luxury yachts. 
However, some of the ACM/ECM probably has more to do with just general threats in waters where piracy is more likely. 

[RevDisk]

Hrm.  Wondering who he's buying his helos from. 

[Iain]

He'll need protecting from his own Chelsea fans unless they win something big soon. Delightful characters such as this:

Belly's gonna get ya

[Cromlech]

I do have one question for you more military-saavy folks:  What good is a missile detection system?  Unless you can somehow stop the missile with patriots or miniguns, what's the value of a few seconds warning before getting hit with a mach 5 missile?

I was about to ask the same thing haha. I guess if you get an advanced enough warning you can abandon ship ASAP, but your little boaty is still getting smashed. Maybe he has some frickin' anti-missiles lazors?

[Tuco]

Nice boat.

[freedom lover]

Honestly, I'd hate to be that rich. When you need bodyguards around your family 24/7 to prevent kidnapping, and an anti-missile system on your boat....

But then I'm kinda weird that way.

I bet you wouldn't say that if you were that rich. I'm sure I would love it.

[Balog]

I bet you wouldn't say that if you were that rich. I'm sure I would love it.

Everyone wants to win the lottery. Once they do, they almost always end up broke and depressed. Money isn't the answer to the question "How can I be happy."

[MicroBalrog]

If we ignore expensive toys, if I were rich, I could two things:

1. Change the world a la Soros.
2. Ensure myself real privacy due to not having to work or directly contact humanity at all.

[roo_ster]

Everyone wants to win the lottery. Once they do, they almost always end up broke and depressed. Money isn't the answer to the question "How can I be happy."

Those lottery winners who lose everything are usually losers who never had a responsible thought in their lives.

Throwing a bajillion bucks at them just means they have more to squander.

IOW, it ain't the money that causes them to be miserable losers, it is their innate loser nature.

And make no mistake, playing the lottery regularly is correlated to such characteristics.  It is not called "A voluntary tax on the stupid" for nothing.

[Jamisjockey]

Those lottery winners who lose everything are usually losers who never had a responsible thought in their lives.

Throwing a bajillion bucks at them just means they have more to squander.

IOW, it ain't the money that causes them to be miserable losers, it is their innate loser nature.

Amen. 

[Balog]

Jfruser: yeah, I know it's not the money per se that makes them miserable. I was merely pointing out that simply having money is not a panacea.

[freedom lover]

2. Ensure myself real privacy due to not having to work or directly contact humanity at all.

2Swap isn't human? Is she secretly some German fembot who managed to escape an underground base and get cosmetic surgery so she wouldn't be recognized? 

[roo_ster]

Jfruser: yeah, I know it's not the money per se that makes them miserable. I was merely pointing out that simply having money is not a panacea.

I hear ya.

Lack of money, OTOH, can be a mite stressful.

2Swap isn't human? Is she secretly some German fembot who managed to escape an underground base and get cosmetic surgery so she wouldn't be recognized? 

Are you suggesting MB invested Dr Evil's ill-gotten gains in Starbucks and left the Evil lair with his very technically minded fembot to live in anonymity in Israel?  'Cause that is starting to sound more viable as I chew it over.

[freedom lover]

Are you suggesting MB invested Dr Evil's ill-gotten gains in Starbucks and left the Evil lair with his very technically minded fembot to live in anonymity in Israel?  'Cause that is starting to sound more viable as I chew it over.

No. I never watched Austin Powers. I just have a great imagination.

[Balog]

Jfruser: oh, I totally agree. There's definitely a sweet spot. I should note that a lot of the perceived "lack of money" is more a result of significant inflation of expectations and acceptance of consumer debt as a way of life than with actual poverty. And even then, the average "poor" folks in America are x1000 better off than most of the rest of the world.

[Fly320s]

Two helipads, sure, but no hangar.     Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft,  has a slightly smaller boat with two helipads and a hangar.  Much more useful, IMO.

This would suffice for the APS Pirate Expedition.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I feel strangely tempted to shoot a missile at it, just to see the if the missile detection system really works.

[Perd Hapley]

Honestly, I'd hate to be that rich. When you need bodyguards around your family 24/7 to prevent kidnapping, and an anti-missile system on your boat....

But then I'm kinda weird that way.

Yes.  Yes, you are.  I'd take the cash.