Fancy a taste of the life of the mega-rich?

• Billionaire Chelsea boss has decided to use luxury yachts as a cash cow
• Eclipse, a 557ft floating palace, is available for £1.6m a week
• Features 18 cabins, two helipads, a missile defence system and submarine
• Superyacht is armour-plated and boasts swimming pool and nightclub
• 380ft Luna also available for hire for £1m a week

Keen sailors with a healthy bank balance could find themselves in the same boat as Roman Abramovich - literally - because the mega-rich Chelsea boss has decided to hire out his luxury yachts for a staggering total of £2.6million a week.

The Russian business tycoon, who is known for his love of fast cars and private jets, also has a penchant for collecting superyachts.

But as he can only use one at a time, Abramovich has decided to use the vessels as a cash cow and charter them out for an eye-watering figure - plus running costs.

Very Nice: The luxury yacht Eclipse, seen in the bay of Villefranche sur Mer, southern France, can be hired for £1.6m a week

His 557ft Eclipse yacht is available for a rumoured £1.65 million ($2.5m) a week.

Until earlier this year Eclipse was the world's largest private yacht, but has now been pipped to the top spot by Azzam, a 590ft floating palace built by German firm Lurssen and owned by a Middle East businessman.

Nevertheless, there are plenty of luxurious features that Eclipse has to offer.

 

Completed in 2010, the yacht has 18 cabins sleeping 34 guests, two helipads, a missile defence system and an accompanying submarine.

It also features a 16-metre swimming pool, theatre and nightclub and is reputedly armour-plated with bulletproof windows.

Eclipse is so large that many marinas can't contain it. In New York, the captain had to dock it in the same place where cruise ships normally anchor.

Abramovich's 557-foot yacht Eclipse, which has lost the title of the world's largest private yacht to the newly-launched Azzam measuring 590-foot, had to be anchored where cruise ships normally anchor in New York

Luxury on the water: Eclipse was until recently the world's largest private yacht

Abramovich's other yacht is the Luna, a 380ft vessel which is available for charter at a weekly price of around £1m ($1.5m).
It also has two helipads and a nightclub and was bought by the privacy-loving Russian in 2010.

With both boats in use, Abramovich could be looking at earning £2.5 million a week - enough to cover 75 per cent of Chelsea FC's weekly wage bill.

And despite these whopping costs, the price does not include running costs or staff. 

Eclipse has a 1m litre tank and a range of around 8,000 nautical miles.
The dreamboats are being advertised for charter through SuperYachts Monaco.

Super yacht: Luna measures 115 metres (377 ft) - and could be yours for £1m a week

Fit for the fleet: Pelorus, which measures 115 metres (377 ft) and was built in 2003, was given to his second wife Irina as part of their divorce settlement in 2009

In his navy: Ecstasea, measuring 85 metres (279 ft) had a high cruising speed and was one of the first luxury yachts bought by Abramovich. He sold the boat to an unnamed buyer in 2009

Smooth sailing: Abromavich's yacht Sussaro