Just how many yachts does a Russian billionaire need? Answer: as many as he wants.

That seems to be the case with Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, who is planning to build the biggest private yacht in the world — even though he owns three of the largest already afloat.

According to well informed sources in marine circles, Abramovich has placed an order for a yacht more than 160 metres long, about one and a half lengths of a football pitch. He already has Pelorus, the fifth largest, and Le Grand Bleu, the sixth largest afloat.

“We know of at least one yacht, due to be built in a German yard, which will certainly be the largest so far,” said one source. Although Abramovich’s spokesman declined to comment last week, marine industry sources identified the billionaire as the buyer.

The project, codenamed Secret, is causing such a stir that some yacht-watchers claim Abramovich wants two new giant yachts, plus a vast support vessel to carry fuel and all the toys, such as powerboats and helicopters. Those rumours, though, are believed to be wide of the mark.

The plans for the world’s biggest yacht have been drawn up. When completed it will just outstrip the present record holder, the 160-metre Platinum, commissioned by Prince Jefri Bolkiah of Brunei and now owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai.

Platinum is in the Gulf undergoing its final fitting out and is likely to have its first sea trials before the end of the year. The largest private yacht in operation is Rising Sun, owned by Larry Ellison, boss of Oracle. But at only 138 metres, Rising Sun will be put in the shade by Abramovich’s monster.

“Everyone likes to push the limits,” said David Price of BCR Yachts, the brokers, in Antibes. “Of course there is an element of one-upmanship.”

In the rarefied world of billionaires, size matters and mega-yachts are the ultimate status symbol of the times.

With an estimated worth of £7.5 billion, Abramovich lags behind the world’s richest men such as Bill Gates, worth £24 billion, and Ellison, worth £10 billion.

But in the yachting world nobody can match his growing fleet: last week he had one yacht in Vancouver and three standing by in the Mediterranean.

Abramovich, who made his fortune from a Russian oil company, first got the yachting bug in 1999 when he bought two boats, Stream and Sophie’s Choice, from Boris Berezovsky, his former mentor and fellow Russian tycoon.

They were relative tiddlers. Two years ago he stormed into the big league by splashing out £50m on Le Grand Bleu, 107 metres, which he bought from Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. Although its facilities included two helipads and a 75ft Baltic sailboat that could be stowed on deck, Abramovich was not satisfied.

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