Translated material
Saddam's "anchor"
The yacht of the Iraqi dictator did not cause a stir among potential buyers
The financial crisis, coupled with the very bad reputation of the first owner, seems to seriously complicate the process of selling the luxury yacht that once belonged to Saddam Hussein. For the current government of Iraq, which has been seeking in international courts for quite a long time the return of ownership of the ship, the yacht can become an “anchor” of illiquid assets, rather than a source of income. As Reuters reports with reference to the auction organizers, Cohen-Amir Aslani-Marseillan-D'Ornano & Associates, no serious offers have been received from buyers yet. The Iraqi authorities planned to raise no less than $30-35 million from the sale of the waterfowl inheritance of the dictator executed in December 2006.However, even before the announcement of the sale of the vessel, experts in France and Great Britain predicted that there would be no rush demand for Saddam Hussein’s yacht. Built at Danish shipyards back in 1981, the yacht is now morally outdated - in the sense that today's oligarchs have more serious demands. Although in terms of luxury, the ship, originally called Qadissiyat Saddam and later renamed Ocean Breeze, is capable of satisfying the most capricious millionaire. The interiors are made in classic Arabic style and decorated with elements of marble, gold, silver and mahogany. Not without gold-plated plumbing, jacuzzi, swimming pools and billiard rooms. They say that on the 82-meter ship the designers also managed to place a mini-mosque, their own medical clinic, and a theater hall. The yacht is equipped with a helipad, bulletproof windows and some kind of device for emergency underwater evacuation of the owner in an emergency, apparently designed in the spirit of a Bond movie.
However, Saddam himself never had a chance to use the rescue capsule or even just visit the yacht. According to the French press, the suspicious dictator chose to transfer the ship, on which numerous enemies could threaten his life, to one of the Saudi sheikhs. Then the King of Jordan seemed to be planning to buy the yacht. The history of the creation of the luxury yacht, as well as the name of its customer, became known only last year, when it was put up for sale. However, the Iraqi authorities immediately announced that they would block the deal with all their might in order to gain the right to dispose of the dictator's property. According to RIA Novosti, lawyers representing the interests of official Baghdad won a dispute with Sudeley Limited, a company registered in the Cayman Islands, partly owned by the King of Jordan and trying to sell the ship. Having defended their ownership rights, Iraqi officials immediately announced their readiness to put the yacht up for auction. Over the weekend, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said optimistically that Saddam's floating palace would be sold in the coming weeks.
Now, according to Reuters, the yacht is already undergoing pre-sale preparation at shipyards in the suburbs of Athens. Greek media claim that the ship has once again changed its name - this time to Basrah Breeze, in order to once again emphasize its nationality. Taking into account the costs required to modernize the equipment, the Iraqi government's revenue from the sale of the yacht may not be so significant. Especially if buyers continue to show no particular interest in the floating palace.