On Monday 11th September 2017, luxury yacht M/Y Eclipse owned by Roman Abramovich, pulled into Port Gruz, Dubrovnik to get fuel, spending an estimated million euros on fuel.
M/Y Eclipse came to Port Gruz for fuel and ordered around 750 tonnes, reports the Dubrovnik Times. The fuel arrived in 40 tanks, of which INA provided 25 tanks, with 800,000 liters. The approximate cost was one million euros. So, Croatia just earned a pretty penny in VAT, something to the sum of €250,000
The M/Y Eclipse is the world’s second largest private yacht at 162.5 metres in length and one of the world’s most expensive mega yachts; in 2011, its estimated worth was placed at $500 million, while some estimates place it upwards of $800 million. Whatever the case, the name is quite fitting as this beauty is bound to Eclipse most anything in her path. The yacht was built for and delivered to Russian billionaire, investor and politician – Roman Abramovich who is also better known as the owner of the Chelsea Football Club.
Eclipse comes equipped with everything you would expect from a Russian Billionaire – pools, hot tubs, restaurants, nightclubs, two helicopter pads (because one is never enough), a mini submarine and a missile detection system. Eclipse has 24 guest cabins and needs a crew of 70 to maintain the yacht and serve the guests with yearly running costs around 30 million euros.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8TRPGtMwHc
M/Y Eclipse comes in a long line of luxury yachts spotted along the Adriatic this summer and while making close to quarter million euros in VAT is a positive for Croatia, the next question that begs to be asked is – does the Croatian nautical sector have the infrastructure to handle such luxury yachts and guests?
Spending money on fuel is great, but does Croatia offer anything else in terms of luxury tourism to lure such guests off their yachts? Ok, chances are Russian billionaires and Oligarchs aren’t looking to explore, privacy is most likely the name of the game and their yachts are equipped with everything so they don’t want for anything. Still, the question of infrastructure and luxury tourism is relevant.
For now, it seems Abramovich and Eclipse are still content being in Dubrovnik, this photo was taken from the harbour just this morning.
Credit: Mirela Rus, Eclipse – almost eclipsing an entire cruise ship!
