A luxury yacht that once belonged to the ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, has been reused as a marine science research Center in Basra.
The yacht, which was called “Al Qadisiyah”, was being built at that time in Denmark in 1980, but the ousted leader did not use it.
Because of the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War, it was not possible to bring it to Iraq and that was later gifted From Saddam to the king of Saudi Arabia, Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
In 2010, the yacht now known as “Breeze” of Basra” to Basra by the minister of Transportation at that time, Amir Abd al-Sabar, who mentioned it was property of state and was built for special Saddam’s purposes.
yacht with 18 rooms and 4 floors including a barber shop, dry cleaning and a first Aid room, later for Sea exploration tour as part of a project developed By Iraqi and German scholars in 2015.
Today, the yacht is moored on The Shatt al-Arab, where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet, serves as a center for scientific research. of Institute of Marine Sciences of Albasrah university.
The yacht is also open to domestic and foreign tourists recently attracted The interest of Gulf citizens to visit Basra for Twenty-fifth Gulf Cup.
