Built-in 1980, the 82-metre (270-foot) yacht, nicknamed the ‘Basrah Breeze’, is now used as the Scientific Research Center of the Marine Sciences Institution of Basra University. The yacht includes the dictator’s private quarters, a dining room and a sea view but was never used by Saddam Hussein.
A look inside the yacht shows the dictator’s private quarters, a king-sized bedroom with silk curtains and a bathroom with gold details. It also has a barbershop, dry cleaning and first aid room spread over the four floors.
The deputy director of Basra museum previously said the yacht is a chance for ‘future generations to see how the dictator lived’
Iraqi president Saddam was toppled in 2003 during the US-led invasion of Iraq and hanged three years later for crimes against humanity. Successive governments struggled to find a use for the ship but it has now been converted into a scientific research vessel.
In 2018, it was put on the market for $ 30 million but the government never found a buyer.
The Basrah Breeze’s sister ship al-Mansur – also never boarded by Hussein – sunk in the Shatt al-Arab waterway in Basra after it was hit by US planes.
