The last of Saddam Hussein's water toys, a 269-foot steel-hulled mega-yacht with bullet-proof glass, a getaway boat and a helicopter pad, has appeared as a listing in a London yacht brokerage. The asking price: a cool $34 million.
BURGESS YACHTSThe Ocean Breeze moored in Nice. Tales of riches belonging to the late Iraqi dictator, who was executed last year after being convicted of crimes against humanity, flowed steadily out of Iraq in the days following the U.S.-led invasion that ousted him from the throne in 2003. Among these holdings were no fewer than three large motoryachts.
The best-known vessel was the Al Mansour ("The Victory"), which was targeted by the American Navy during the invasion and struck repeatedly with precision-guided bombs – eight direct hits – in the port of Umm Qasr in Basra (see photo). A smaller yacht was sunk up the Tigris river, near Baghdad.
But the fate of a third boat was not widely known – until it appeared for sale on the website of the Burgess Yachts brokerage in London last month (see link).
This third yacht, built in 1981 by Helsingoer Vaerft, of Denmark, was never delivered to Saddam in Iraq, but instead spent much of its time after the shipyard in Saudi Arabia. The boat was launched as the Qadissivat Saddam, but renamed the Al-Yamamah after it reached Saudi Arabia, according to a report in London's Daily Mail newspaper.
Earlier this year, the mega-yacht – now called Ocean Breeze – was moved to the western Mediterranean and photos available from the yacht broker show it moored in Nice. The yacht is currently located near several empty and unsold villas on the French Riviera that belonged to the former Iraqi leader, according to the Daily Mail. The paper also quoted an asking price of 17 million British Pounds, or about $34.5 million.
Saddam Hussein's Al Mansour was destroyed by U.S.-Led Coalition forces in the 2003 invasion.
LAVISH APPOINTMENTS
Officials at Burgess Yachts could not be reached by phone or email Thursday. But pictures that accompany the listing show a lavishly-appointed vessel, with a massive master stateroom decorated in pink and gigantic meeting spaces with large flat-screen televisions (see photos).
The boat was fitted with prayer rooms and ornate fountains, according to the Daily Mail, as well as whirl pools, steam rooms, and a health clinic with an operating theater. A banquet hall was located in an atrium wrapped in shatter-proof glass, and the boat carried linens and flatware to accommodate 200 people.
The yacht is 269 feet, with a 43-foot beam and draws almost 12 feet, according to the brokerage listing. Powered by twin 3,000 HP MTU diesel engines, it weighs roughly 2,282 tons, has a cruising speed of 18 knots and a range of roughly 7,000 nautical miles. Those specifications would place the boat solidly in the upper realm of the world's mega-yachts.
The vessel was allegedly built to Saddam's requirements, which apparently included bulletproof glass, a helicopter pad, armaments, "anti-boarding" devices such as alarms and closed-circuit television, at least 14 staterooms to house 28 guests – which is a limited number for a yacht this size – and additional room for 35 crew.
The boat had a special emergency passage leading to a fast patrol boat kept as a tender for emergencies, according to the Daily Mail. Some press accounts also allege that the vessel had a submarine compartment, which is a feature on mega-yachts that is often talked about but seldom seen. Those accounts were unconfirmed.
MORE THAN MONEY
Despite the yacht's obvious grandeur, Saddam himself was often described as someone who did not value his great wealth. In a 2002 profile of Saddam in Atlantic Monthly magazine, Mark Bowden, the author of Black Hawk Down, described him this way:
"By all accounts, he is not interested in money. This is not the case with other members of his family. His wife, Sajida, is known to have gone on million-dollar shopping sprees in New York and London, back in the days of Saddam's good relations with the West...Saddam himself isn't a hedonist; he lives a well-regulated, somewhat abstemious existence. He seems far more interested in fame than in money, desiring above all to be admired, remembered, and revered."
Saddam, who was discovered hiding in a foxhole after months of running from the U.S. led coalition, was tried by a special tribunal in Iraq, convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed in 2006.
