The Chelsea owner has been hit by sanctions from the UK government and faces the prospect of having £3.2billion of assets in this country frozen after being identified as having links to Vladimir Putin and the Russian state.
The jewel of Abramovich’s fleet is luxury yacht Eclipse (Image: Getty Images)
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said yesterday that oligarchs like Abramovich have “no place in our society or economy”, adding: “The blood of the Ukrainian people is on their hands. They should hang their heads in shame.”
Abramovich, who according to The Sunday Times Rich List is worth a staggering £10.2billion, has a property empire across the world, including a west London mansion, Colorado ski-ranch and chateau on the French Riviera.
Abramovich has been sanctioned by the UK for his links to Vladimir Putin ( Image: PA)
The Chelsea owner has a collection of helicopters and commercial-sized planes valued at around £400m, which includes his customised jet nicknamed “Bandit”.
Abramovich also boasts a huge collection of supercars worth more than £16m and even splashed out £285,000 just on a number plate.
But the Russian billionaire is really known for being the world’s greatest spender on luxury yachts, maintaining a fleet which was dubbed ‘Abramovich’s Navy’.
Abramovich (R) leaves his luxury super-yacht Pelorus in June 2004 ( Image: Getty Images)
Abramovich, who used to have a vast collection of super yachts, now only has two but they completely dwarf his old ones in size.
The crown jewel is Abramovich’s 533ft super yacht Eclipse, which at the time of launch was the largest privately owned superyacht in the world.
Eclipse was originally contracted at a price of around £500million but is now known as ‘the $1.5billion yacht’.
Winning the record Euromillions jackpot of £189million five times over would still not give you enough cash to purchase Abramovich’s vessel.
Weighing in at 13,564 tons, Eclipse was the world’largest private yacht for around three years until the Azzam was built in 2013.
Designed by French architect Hermidas Atabeyki, it was built by Blohm and Voss in 2010, with the interior kitted out by Terence Disdale.
Guests on the Eclipse hang out on the rear of the boat in 2015 ( Image: Getty Images)
There is more accommodation for crew than guests, with 35 of the 53 cabins for the workers, who also get their own private cinema.
The superyacht has enough space on board for two helipads, an aquarium, multiple hot tubs, disco hall and two separate swimming pools.
One of the pools is the biggest ever placed on a private yacht and can be drained out to become a dance floor.
But most interesting of all is the modern technology Eclipse is kitted out with to give its guests privacy and protection from all sorts of threats.
Abramovich’s yacht has anti-paparazzi lasers, which can detect the electronic light sensors that cameras use before they even flash.
They target the cameras with beams of infrared light which overexposes the photos, rendering them useless to anyone trying to get a snap, although it doesn’t work on an old-fashioned mechanical camera.
Eclipse has a lot of modern tech ( Image: X03635)
There is also bullet-proof glass and armour-plating around Abramovich’s personal quarters and a mini submarine that fits three people and could be used as an escape pod.
The newest addition to his fleet is the £430million Solaris, a 430ft vessel which took to the seas for the first time last year.
It is the most costly custom-made superyacht ever built with 48 cabins across eight decks, a crew of 60 and space for 36 guests.
To put into perspective how large Solaris is, the superyacht is bigger and taller than Buckingham Palace.
Abramovich has cut down to just two superyachts, but previously owned an entire fleet which he would loan out to his pals.
The two biggest were Pelorus and Luna, which were both 377ft and cost £274million and £276million respectively.
Roman Abramovich’s super yacht Solaris was seen at Barcelona Port last week ( Image: REUTERS)
Pelorus was given to his second wife, Irina Vyacheslavovna Abramovich, as part of their divorce settlement in 2009 while Luna was sold to a close friend, Azerbaijani-born billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov, in April 2014.
Luna had been his replacement for the £110million and 371ft Le Grand Bleu, as both were expedition yachts with stronger hulls capable of providing comfort while navigating through high seas and inhospitable climates such as the North and South Poles.
Other vessels owned by the billionaire include the £110million Ecstasea (282ft) and £16million Sussurro (162ft).
Some of the yachts have been loaned out to some of Chelsea’s players, including John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
After Chelsea won the Premier League in 2005, Terry and Lampard were given use of the Pelorus as a ‘bonus’, then two years later Terry and his wife Toni set sail on the yacht for their honeymoon.
On Thursday it was announced that a further seven oligarchs would be sanctioned by the UK government over their links to Putin amid his war on Ukraine.
Eclipse was spotted in Turkey in 2019 ( Image: Getty Images)
Giving a warning, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “There can be no safe havens for those who have supported Putin’s vicious assault on Ukraine.
“We will be ruthless in pursuing those who enable the killing of civilians, destruction of hospitals and illegal occupation of sovereign allies.”
One of the oligarchs, Igor Sechin, has already seen his 289-ft yacht ‘Amore Vero’ seized by French custom officers near Marseille after being sanctioned by the European Union.
Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has got a new yacht called 'Solaris'.
It cost $600m. 🤑 pic.twitter.com/E3lmtyCQVU
— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) August 17, 2021
But it seems Abramovich is making sure that no one will be able to get their hands on his superyachts.
Eclipse was moored in Barcelona last week but is now in open sea off the coast of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.
While Solaris was last spotted off the Sicily coast and is now believed to be heading to Israel, which is where Abramovich holds citizenship.
A spokesperson for the Russian billionaire said: “We never comment on the movements of the yacht or any other vehicles or vessels.”
