“I live in each Iraqi’s house,” he had replied when a judge asked him where he lived.
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was like this….. a strong and bold personality. Since his demise on December 30, 2006, the Iraqi government has seized his properties, except ‘Basrah Breeze’, his super-yacht. The government had no information about the 82m yacht from 2006 to 2010. Baghdad regained the ownership of the super-yacht eight years ago.

Saddam Hussein

The present address of the vessel is Basra, the Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab between Kuwait and Iran. The USD 30 million luxury yacht with a presidential suite, 17 smaller and luxurious guest rooms, a clinic and 18 cabins for crew was built in 1981. Surprisingly, the deposed Iraqi leader never stepped onboard the yacht.

The interior

The Basrah Breeze was occupied during the Iraq-Iran war in 1991. According to sources close to the Iraqi government, the yacht was anchored in Jordan. After the US forces captured Saddam in 2003, the government confiscated most of his property. However, it failed to find the super-yacht. Baghdad regained ownership of the vessel after winning a long legal battle in 2010.

The Captain’s Room

The yacht, built by a Danish shipyard, was received by Saudi Arabia (then a Saddam-ally) when Iraq was at war with Iran. The Saudi authorities protected the vessel from air strikes (on Basra) and took care of it. Later, Riyadh sent the yacht to Basra.
Talking to the media, the vessel’s Captain Abdul-Zahra Abdul-Mahdi Saleh said: “The presidential yacht is in a very good condition. Its two engines and generators are functioning. It only needs periodic maintenance.” Meanwhile, Basra port spokesperson Anmar al-Safi stressed: “The port needs the boat to be a station where sea pilots can rest.”

Basrah Breez

The Iraqi government struggled to find a buyer because of its high price. Later, the yacht was turned into a hotel and the move helped the West Asian nation earn a huge amount of foreign currency every year. Since 2015, the yacht has accommodated not only tourists, but also marine researchers from Basra University.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das