A Huge Parking Bill, but It’s Also a Huge Space

Richard Perry/The New York Times The yacht Eclipse, docked in Manhattan in February.

As of Wednesday, Roman Abramovich’s latest bill for parking in New York City will reach $100,000. And by the time his ship sails, the tab could exceed $150,000.

Mr. Abramovich, the Russian billionaire who owns the Chelsea soccer team in London, also owns the world’s largest yacht, the 533-foot Eclipse. The boat is so big that the only place to dock it in Manhattan is at the terminal on the West Side where cruise ships load and unload.

But cruise ships usually stay in port less than 12 hours. The Eclipse has been at Pier 90 since mid-February and intends to stay another month, according to a spokesman for the city’s Economic Development Corporation, which controls the terminal.

Andrew Winning/Reuters Roman Abramovich

The fee for parking at the terminal is $2,000 a day, said the spokesman, Patrick Muncie. That may sound steep, but the rate has not risen in more than two years - unlike subway fares or the charge to park a car at a meter in the city.

Providing shelter for the megayachts of Russian billionaires could be a source of significant revenue for the city, which splits the fee evenly with the company that operates the terminal, Ports America.

The Eclipse is reputed to be decked out with three helipads, a submarine and a swimming pool whose bottom can be raised for use as a dance floor. Its construction cost has been estimated at more than $500 million.

In November 2011, the 440-foot yacht Serene parked at the terminal for several days. It was the first personal boat to do so, according to the development corporation. Boating publications have reported that the Serene, whose unusual features include an indoor saltwater pool and a room in which it snows, belongs to Yuri Shefler, whose company distributes Stolichnaya vodka.

The Serene’s owner also was charged $2,000 a day, according to the development corporation. But if the city charged by the foot, Mr. Abramovich would be paying $422 more per day for the Eclipse, which has been the biggest private yacht in the world since it was launched in 2010, according to Superyachts.com.

The Eclipse is about two feet longer than the Dubai, a yacht owned by the ruler of Dubai. But soon the Eclipse may be eclipsed by a much larger yacht under construction in Bremen, Germany. That boat, known as Azzam, is estimated to be about 50 feet longer.

It is too soon to know if Azzam will ever be moored in Manhattan. But its owner, whoever that turns out to be, is unlikely to be a better customer of the city’s development corporation than Mr. Abramovich.

The only yacht ever to dock at the city-owned cruise terminal in Brooklyn spent a month there last spring, at a cost of $1,800 a day, Mr. Muncie said. That boat, a 377-foot vessel named Luna, reportedly belonged to Mr. Abramovich, too.