Camper & Nicholsons, the leading international yacht broker established in 1782, has come out with its annual Super Yachting Index evaluating the state of superyachting for the previous year. Among the features of the Index is a much-anticipated ranking of the world’s largest yachts, the definitive guide to the biggest ocean-going toys on the planet. And according to the Index, a certain Russian oligarch has been exaggerating the size of his new “gigayacht”. Don’t get us wrong – Roman Abramovich’s Eclipse is still the world’s largest yacht – but not by much. C&N pegs the Blohm + Voss-built behemoth at just 162 metres, a full 7 metres shorter than the figure in general circulation.
That means Abramovich has an extremely small edge on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum’s Dubai at 162 metres, which held the World’s Largest title until the Eclipse was born. And since the Sheikh basically owns his own shipyard now – the U.A.E.’s Platinum Yachts, where the Dubai was finished – it wouldn’t take much for him to have it refitted with an extra metre of metal to put Abramovich firmly in his place. In any case, old Roman is barely holding the line against a flotilla of massive megayachts owned by Middle Eastern magnates – the next four yachts on the list are Sultan Qaboos of Oman’s Al Said at 155 metres; King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdulaziz at 147 metres; the Egyptian-owned El Horriya at 145.7 metres; and Crown Prince Sultan of Saudi Arabia’s Al Salamah at 139 metres.
