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CNBC Reporter & Editor
On Wednesday, a private yacht sailed slowly and
quietly up the Hudson River and docked near midtown Manhattan.
This wasn't just any yacht, however. It was Eclipse
-- the largest private yacht in the world. And its presence is sure to touch
off a frenzy of speculation about its owners and future.
Seeing Eclipse docked off the midtown piers is the
boating world equivalent of seeing a blue whale swim up the Hudson in the dead
of winter. It just doesn't happen -- or hasn't happened. Eclipse's owner, the
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, is famously private and averse to
publicity. Eclipse is almost always kept in the rarified preserves of Monaco,
Cannes, Portfino or St. Bart's, visible to other billionaires but rarely the
hoi polloi.
By docking the boat in Manhattan, under the gaze of
millions and a horde of media companies, Abramovich is, to say the least,
inviting attention.
A spokesman for Mr. Abramovich declined to comment
on the boat or its owner's reasons for being in Manhattan. But several dock
workers and officials who have been briefed on the boat say it is scheduled to
be in town until mid-April.
Some speculate that Abramovich may be using the boat
as a temporary residence, since it is more secure and can better accommodate
his large security force than a New York coop or hotel. Abramovich's partner,
Dasha Zhukova, has announced that she is pregnant, and due in the Spring.
Eclipse has a crew of more than 60 people and a
battalion of security cameras and sensors. It has two helicopter pads, two
pools and a submarine.
At 533-feet, it remains the largest yacht in the
world. But it may hold the title only for a few more months. A new yacht,
called Azzam, is being built for a MIddle East billionaire that could be 590
feet.
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