Basrah Breeze, the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s superyacht, has an unusual new role. She’s a floating hotel, essentially, for pilot boat captains in Iraq’s southernmost port.
According to Reuters, the still-luxe yacht is permanently moored in Basra. There, officials plan for her to welcome and house the pilots, many of whom don’t live locally. “The port needs the boat to be a station where sea pilots can rest,” Anmar al-Safi, a Basra port spokesperson, tells Reuters.
The 269-foot (82-meter) Basrah Breeze is still shipshape, too, at least according to her captain. In fact, he says both the engines and gensets work just fine. “The presidential yacht is in a very good condition,” he tells the wire service. “It only needs periodic maintenance.”
It’s quite the change of pace for an infamous yacht that, notably, the dictator never stepped aboard. In fact, Hussein’s superyacht, built in 1981 as Qadissivat Saddam, went straight into Saudi hands upon delivery. The Iran-Iraq war was raging at the time. Therefore, Hussein diverted her for temporary safekeeping. Glitzy from top deck to lower deck, the yacht had accommodations for 28 guests and 35 crew. She remained in Saudi Arabia for many years. In fact, she carried the name Al Yamamah while under the watchful eye of the late King Fahd.
Even after the war, however, Qadissivat Saddam/Al Yamamah did not head to Iraq. Instead, King Fahd ended up giving the yacht to Jordan’s King Hussein. Upon that king’s death in 1999, his successor sent the yacht to the Med. But, she remained registered as a Jordanian-owned vessel, via a Cayman Islands company.
In 2007, the year after Hussein’s execution, the yacht appeared in brokerage listings, for sale as Ocean Breeze. After years of silence, the Iraqi government spoke up, opposing the sale. It claimed that the yacht was illegally transferred from Hussein’s ownership and that she should instead be under its control. Not coincidentally, the Iraqi government was in the midst of seizing the dictator’s assets worldwide, using the funds to support the Iraqi people. In 2009, a French court ruled in the Iraqi government’s favor. It found that no documents were ever submitted to show a transfer of ownership.
Unfortunately, the government’s attempts to sell her, for a reported $30 million, fell short that same year. Renamed Basrah Breeze, she received a refit in Greece, then went back on the brokerage market in 2010. That sales attempt failed as well. Basrah Breeze has been in Iraqi waters since then.
In 2015, Basrah Breeze was serving scientists conducting ocean research. While scientists wished to use her again the following year, the captain told National Geographic magazine that the Iraqi government lacked sufficient funds to operate her. However, Reuters says subsequent years held better luck.
Even with that service, Reuters reports that Hussein’s superyacht is still lush. Silk curtains surround the bed in one suite, for instance. The same suite has a barber’s chair in the en suite bath. Hussein’s own suite contains dining rooms and multiple bedrooms.
Those should make quite the entertaining surroundings for the harbor pilots. They’ll be a fascinating look back at history, too, if a museum in Basra gets its way. It’s petitioning the port for permission to dock Hussein’s superyacht near one of his former palaces. The museum runs exhibition halls dedicated to how Hussein lived and ruled in the palace, and wants the yacht to follow suit.
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