Saddam Hussein’s former superyacht Basrah Breeze is turned into a hotel for sailors
$30 million superyacht Basrah Breeze was built for Saddam Hussein in 1981 but the late Iraqi dictator never set foot on it
The 82m Basrah Breeze superyacht, built for Saddam Hussein in 1981, has been turned into a hotel.
The yacht is to be specifically used as a hotel facility by pilots who guide shipping in and out of the port of Basra in southern Iraq.
The $30 million superyacht was built for the late Iraqi president by a Danish shipyard, but Hussein never set foot on it.
Basrah Breeze spent most of its life abroad, but after a court battle, the Iraqi government got the yacht back on its shore in 2010. After failing to find a buyer, due to its hefty price tag, the government lent it to Basra University to use it as a marine research vessel.
Basrah Breeze is now moored it permanently in Basra and has become a hotel for shipping pilots, many of whom don’t permanently live in the Iraqi city.
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“The presidential yacht is in a very good condition. Its two engines and generators are functioning,” Reuters reports its captain Abdul-Zahra Abdul-Mahdi Saleh, saying. “It only needs periodic maintenance.”.
“The port needs the boat to be a station where sea pilots can rest,” Reuters reports Basra port spokesman Anmar al-Safi as saying.
Basrah Breeze boasts Hussein’s presidential suite, large dining rooms, dozens of bedrooms, 17 smaller guest cabins and 18 crew cabins.
It was plushly decorated for the dictator and his quarters boast silk curtains and even a gold rimmed bathroom.