Superyachts the latest toy coveted by the uber-rich

Singapore

THE ultra-rich may own super cars and sports franchises, but luxury yachts - costing the equivalent of entire office blocks in New York or London - are quietly gliding into the picture, cementing their status as the toys and status symbols to have among this set.

Wealth-X, a curator of research and information on ultra-high net worth individuals - that is, those with net assets of US$30 million or more - has done the tracking to know who owns what, what these "toys" are worth and the luxe features they have been kitted out with. Take, for example, the extremely deep-pocketed Roman Abramovich, who bought over Chelsea Football Club about a decade ago for £140 million and has since spent another £2 billion on the club in wages, transfers and a new training ground. The Russian oligarch owns the Eclipse, a 162-metre long, US$1 billion vessel that lays claim to the top spot on a list of the 10 most expensive luxury yachts in the world, said Wealth-X.

A yacht with that price tag buys plenty of "fittings" - starting with a mini-submarine that dives 46 metres. It also has three landing boats, two helicopter pads, bullet-proof glass and armour plates wrapping the length of its master suite and a German-built missile defence system. It is practically Mr Abramovich's private Pentagon on water.

The Eclipse's softer, state-of-the-art internal features include 24 guest suites, two swimming pools, a disco, a cinema, a restaurant and even a hair salon.

Mere mortals might blanch at the thought that he pays US$75 million a year to run the super yacht, but - get this - it isn't even his only yacht. He has four others, costing an estimated total of nearly US$800 million. He has reportedly called his estimated US$1.8-billion fleet "the Abramovich navy"; collectively, the vessels represent more than a 10th of his overall net worth of US$12.6 billion, reported Wealth-X.

But the Eclipse, while being the world's most expensive super yacht, isn't the largest. That bragging right belongs to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Emir of Abu Dhabi, who owns the Azzam, the world's second most expensive superyacht, valued at US$600 million, going by Wealth-X's data.

The Azzam stretches out to 180 metres, pipping the Eclipse by 17 metres.

Wealth-X, in figures published recently, put the total value of the top five most expensive yachts at US$2.84 billion.

For perspective, this "chump change" can buy you approximately 35 Boeing 737-700s and seven A380 planes.

It is what it will cost you to integrate Crimea into Russia, or to buy South-east Asian startups going back to 2008; it is also a little more than the estimated wealth of Peter Lim, Singapore's own football-club owning billionaire.

Why yachts?

But why are yachts the new fascination of the superwealthy?

Mykolas Rambus, the chief executive of Wealth-X, told The Business Times that for the wealthy, these vessels are more than just flashy and expensive toys. These private "floating islands" enable them to escape into their private lives, to spend quality time with their families, away from the attention they would otherwise draw.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that two of the three most expensive yachts are owned by royalty, for whom privacy and security are a priority.

The third most expensive yacht, valued at US$520 million, is the Topaz, a 147-metre long yacht owned by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, another member of the Abu Dhabi royal family.

Wealth-X's list of superyacht owners is dominated by Middle Eastern billionaires; six of the 10 yachts are owned by magnates from the UAE, Qatar and Oman, and another three by Russian billionaires.

Only one American billionaire's yacht made the list - that of entertainment industry tycoon David Geffen's Pelorus, which is worth US$300 million.

Superyachts owned by Asians are conspicuously absent from the list of top 10 most expensive boats, a fact which does not surprise Andy Treadwell, the managing director of the Singapore Yacht Show (SYS).

He said: "Yachting is still very much an emerging lifestyle in Asia. It's a new and small market, compared to those in Europe and America, where it has been a passion for 100 years or more."

Asians who have made it good are more likely to start conservatively, with relatively smaller yachts, and "trade up" for larger boats as they grow into the lifestyle.

Mr Treadwell said Asian billionaires are more likely than their Western counterparts to use a yacht as a business platform.

"Fundamentally though, the desire to own a luxury yacht and travel the world's oceans in style is universal, irrespective of nationality," he said.

He told BT, however, that there are many cultures within Asia and the level of sensitivity to an ostentatious display of wealth varies considerably. Some super-rich Asians prefer to remain discreet about what they own, whereas it may be quite natural among other nationalities to want to flaunt their wealth.

He noted that Singapore-based owners are already making a mark on the Asian yacht scene: In Asia, the current top five most expensive yachts are Asean Lady (based in Singapore), Saluzi (Singapore), Ambrosia III (Hong Kong), Van Triumph (Hong Kong) and White Rabbit Echo (Singapore).

Asians are shopping

Purchases by Asians are ongoing: Yacht-builder Oceanco recently announced the launch of a 91-metre yacht bought by a Chinese client. Royal Huisman sold a yacht to a Taiwanese, and Benetti sold Ocean Paradise, a 55-metre vessel, to a Singaporean.

Mr Treadwell disclosed that a Singaporean could soon own Asia's most expensive yacht; an Australian yard has been commissioned to build a new 84-metre yacht and a 46-metre support vessel. He revealed neither the identity of this individual nor the cost of the vessel, but conservative estimates put the value of the contract at US$100 million.

There is clearly a growing connection between wealthy Asians and yacht ownership, prompting Wealth-X and the SYS to set up a partnership of knowledge sharing and collaboration, designed to entrench them as Asia's wealth and yachting intelligence leaders, with data on the region's ultra-wealthy and the future demand for yachts.

It may well be advisable for Singapore to expand its marinas to have adequate berthing space for large, swanky vessels.