Saddam's Ocean Breeze hits rough economic seas

11:23 PM Sun 25 Jan 2009 GMT

'The 82m superyacht was built in secret, but was never used. Now it's an eye-sore and property of the Iraqi government.' .

The former dictator's 82m Ocean Breeze, boasting swimming pools, a mosque, missile launcher and mini-submarine, will be towed back to Iraq from a Greek port, Iraq's government has announced, saving it the cost of expensive berthing and maintenance fees.

Iraq will also pay costs to a Greek company as part of an agreement to maintain the yacht since July 2008, the statement added.

The vessel became the subject of a legal wrangle when it appeared in the French Riviera city of Nice in autumn 2007, where a British boat dealer tried to sell it for 23.5 million euro ($46.76 million).

The super-yacht was built in secret for Saddam Hussein and was considered so outdated - with a clashing palette of gold, marble and mahogany - that experts decreed it would need an overhaul costing at least as much again as its $48 million asking price.

The yacht has Arabesque arches, dark wood carvings, deep pile carpets in lurid colours, rugs woven with views of holy cities, and gold taps. There is no gym, which today would be considered an essential superyacht facility. Workers at the Danish shipyard where it was built had to sign secrecy agreements before its launch in 1981 to ensure the Iraqi people never learnt about their ruler's extravagant tastes.

A costly refit would certainly be needed. But it was on the market for an absolute bargain. Building the vessel today from scratch could cost an estimated US$150 million, according to experts.

Interiors are a melange of decadent and lurid colour schemes, gold and mahogany. - ..

Last year, the Iraqi government, which has a right to recover the late dictator's property, managed to have a French commercial court block the sale until its ownership was firmly established.

Built in Denmark in 1981 under the original name Basra Breeze, the luxury yacht was a victim of the Iran-Iraq war, when it was moved from the southern port of Basra to Saudi Arabia out of fear of its being damaged. Described as more a 'desert fox' than a sailor, Saddam never experienced its opulence.