- Title: Saddam's superyacht winds up as sailors' hotel
- Date: 22nd May 2018
- Summary: BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 13, 2018) (REUTERS) SADDAM HUSSEIN'S LUXURY YACHT "BASRAH BREEZE" DOCKED AT PORT YACHT WITH SIGN READING (English): "BASRAH BREEZE, BASRAH" BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 21, 2018) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPOKESMAN OF BASRA PORT, ANMAR AL-SAFI, SAYING: "The presidential yacht the Basrah Breeze was sailing from one country to another until it finally reached France and was brought back through huge efforts made by a former minister of transport. Some two years ago, it was given to the Marine Science College of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Now the ports need the boat to be a station where port sea pilots can rest, to be a pilot station or a hotel for sea pilots." BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 13, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF YACHT HALL INTERIOR CURTAINS AND SOFAS OF ONE OF YACHT HALLS VARIOUS OF YACHT INTERIOR OFFICIALS AT YACHT'S CONTROL ROOM BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 18, 2018) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ARABIC) CAPTAIN MANNING THE BOAT, ABDUL-ZAHRA ABDUL MAHDI SALEH, SAYING: "The Basrah Breeze presidential yacht is in very good condition. Its two engines and generators are functioning. It only needs periodical maintenance, which is a routine maintenance to maintain its body, remove corroded and rusty parts and repaint it, in addition to maintaining mechanical parts including air conditioning system. Otherwise, the yacht is ready to sail at the moment." BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 13, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF YACHT DOCKED AT PORT SADDAM'S SUNKEN YACHT OF AL-MANSUR NAME WRITTEN ON YACHT READING (Arabic/English): "AL-MANSUR" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RETIRED PORT PILOT, ALI HUSSEIN, SAYING: "We guided the yacht at that time and I told the captain who was a military brigadier to get rid of the military uniforms of the crew, weapons, munitions and pose as civilian ship in case we were caught by American warships." SUNKEN YACHT IN UMM QASR PORT VARIOUS OF SUNKEN YACHT OF AL-MANSUR BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 18, 2018) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ASSISTANT ENGINEER OF PORT SECTION WHERE SHIPWRECK IS SUNK, ABBAS KARIM DAIRI, SAYING: "The metal of which the yacht is made, which is hardened steel, needs highly advanced equipment and a budget (to dismantle it) and the company does not have the needed budget and specialised equipment. It needs high capabilities." BASRA, IRAQ (MAY 13, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF AL-MANSUR YACHT PLATFORM OF UMM QASR / PAN TO PORT AND SUNKEN YACHT
- Embargoed: 5th June 2018 16:20
- Keywords: Iraq Saddam Hussein Yacht Basra Gulf
- Location: BASRA, IRAQ
- City: BASRA, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Living / Lifestyle,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0018GY8PCL
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The king size bed in Saddam Hussein's superyacht is made, the silk curtains around it have been drawn back and, in the gold-rimmed bathroom next door, a barber's chair awaits its occupant.
But the Iraqi dictator never boarded the 82-metre (270-foot) "Basrah Breeze" built for him in 1981 - and its amenities will now be enjoyed by the pilots who guide shipping in and out of Basra, the main southern city.
In common with other treasures left by Saddam, toppled in 2003 during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and hanged three years later for crimes against humanity, the governments that succeeded him have been struggling to find a use for the ship.
Since Iraq got it back in 2010 following a court battle and a three-decade odyssey abroad, it has been mostly moored in Basra.
Equipped with a presidential suite comprising Saddam's private quarters, dining rooms and bedrooms, as well as 17 smaller guest rooms, 18 cabins for crew and a clinic, the opulently equipped and decorated vessel was put on the market for $30 million.
The government failed to find a buyer, and for the past two years the "Basrah Breeze" has served Basra University, hosting researchers on trips to study marine life.
"The presidential yacht is in a very good condition. Its two engines and generators are functioning," said Abdul-Zahra Abdul-Mahdi Saleh, its captain. "It only needs periodic maintenance."
But authorities have now decided to moor it permanently as a hotel and recreation facility for the southern port's pilots, many of whom live in distant cities.
"Now the port needs the boat to be a station where sea pilots can rest," said Basra port spokesman Anmar al-Safi.
Built by a Danish shipyard while Iraq was at war with Iran, the yacht was passed on to Saudi Arabia - then a Saddam ally - to protect it from air strikes on Basra, officials giving Reuters an exclusive tour said.
The kingdom, which fell out with Saddam after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, then handed the vessel over to Jordan. Its subsequent movements were unclear until Iraq tracked it down in the French resort of Nice, where a court seized it and sent it home.
While the "Basrah Breeze" survived the turmoil of Saddam's decline and demise, its sister ship "al-Mansur" - which he also never boarded - suffered a different fate, sinking in the Shatt al-Arab waterway that passes through Basra after it was hit by U.S. planes and then stripped bare in the chaotic aftermath of his overthrow.
Saddam had ordered it in 2003 to leave Umm Qasr, Iraq's biggest port outside Basra, where it had been moored, to Basra in a vain attempt to avoid air strikes.
"I told the captain of the yacht who was a military brigadier to get rid of the military uniforms of the crew, weapons and munitions and pose as civilian ship in case it is caught by the American warships," said Ali Hussein, a port pilot who guided the yacht then to Basra.
Meanwhile, Basra museum has not given up hope of persuading the port to allow it to dock "Basrah Breeze" next to its exhibition halls in one of Saddam's former palaces overlooking the Shatt al-Arab.
"Future generations could see how a dictator lived," said Jawad Abdul Kadhim, the museum's deputy director. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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