Saddam's yacht: the perfect holiday gift

Want to get something really special for someone this holiday season? Something that can't be picked up in your local Sharper Image or Hot Topic? How about the late Saddam Hussein's 269-foot mega-yacht: the "Qaddisat Saddam?" For the low entry fee of $34 million, you'll get you a massive gold, silver, and marble adorned ship replete with Arabesque arches, fountains, dining and silverware for 200, a clinic with a surgical suite, a helipad, 14 cabins, plus bunk space for 35 crew members (or servants, if you will), and a secret passageway to an escape boat and sub-pod (in case you too are paralyzed by fear of assassination attempts). The sellers have thoughtfully renamed the craft the "Ocean Breeze," but we're fairly confident that no matter what you call it, the overwhelming vibe of mustachioed dictator will be impossible to obscure. Check the read link for a thorough tour of the entire ship -- and make sure you have your credit card handy.

[Photo courtesy of Radar Online]

[NiGhTmArE @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:27PM]

Cool gadget!

Wait...

[Dillon @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:27PM]

How exactly is this gadget news that I would care about?

[kyle @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:55PM]

Hey, give them a break, it's only three days before christmas and all the big news is coming next month with CES and Macworld

[vagrantA @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:55PM]

You cared enough to click the story, read the story, and then comment on it. I think you got a lot more out of it then what you paid for. And I really doubt the basis for posting a story on engadget is whether or not you, Dillon, will care about it.

[Timothy @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:06PM]

Well, it's got a dock connector. And it's got a frickin' *sub*pod. God know that'll come in handy if you're, um, Doom'ed.

[roberto @ Dec 23rd 2007 4:35PM]

mmmmmm let me think..... you should care because it plays doom?

[whatsdamattau @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:34PM]

I already bought and returned the thing. My helicopter was too big to fit on the pad.

[Josh @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:44PM]

Really? My problem with it was only being able to fit 200 guests comfortably.

[NG @ Dec 23rd 2007 8:27AM]

i had to return it because mr osama was on board XD

[Pentium @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:38PM]

the question is who is selling this?

[skyman375 @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:49PM]

No kidding - who "owns" this? I would assume that the US Navy captured it, but now shouldn't it belong to the Iraqi government?

[skyman375 @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:46PM]

No kidding - who "owns" this? I would assume that the US Navy captured it, but now shouldn't it belong to the Iraqi government?

[Josef @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:38PM]

I would bid on it, but unfortunately it will not blend.

[Admiral @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:42PM]

The US Navy begs to differ.

[Jeff Goldberg @ Dec 22nd 2007 10:02PM]

Josef, probably the funniest thing I've ever read. I LOL'd.

[GriffinMG @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:46PM]

You forgot to mention the secret passage that runs the entire length of the ship to he helipad and a speedboat.

Seriously,no shit.This thing has a secret passage.

[Nelson @ Dec 24th 2007 7:26AM]

Can it really be called a "secret" passage anymore? We all kinda know about it.

[Ethan @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:58PM]

The guy could repress a civil war with torture and death, but nobody can make yellow walls match blue carpet.

[rlh82 @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:13PM]

You've clearly never been to Ann Arbor

[johnzilla @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:34PM]

@rlh82:

That's maize and blue, not yellow and blue.

[aschmack @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:15PM]

The color maize, in the English language, usually refers to a color that is similar to yellow; it is named for the cereal of the same name—maize. In public usage, maize can be applied to a variety of shades, ranging from light yellow to a dark shade that borders on orange.

[Luis @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:28PM]

@aschmack: Maize means CORN not cereal. Even though you can make corn INTO cereal. Maiz is spanish for Corn even.

[Andrew Harrison @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:42PM]

@Luis:

Cereal means EDIBLE GRAIN not breakfast cereal. Even though you can refer to breakfast cereal AS cereal. Cereal is spanish for Cereal even.

[Ethan @ Dec 22nd 2007 8:58PM]

Google tells me Ann Arbour is a city in Michigan, and the two times I've been to the US, I've never been to the Great Lakes State, so I've no idea how Ann Arbour would be able to solve the horrific clash created by the combination of yellow and blue.

Interesting discussion on the nature of maize above btw.

[BigD145 @ Dec 22nd 2007 3:59PM]

Two outside photos and one inside do not make for a 'thorough' tour.

Who owns this? I figured it would default either to the Iraqi people or the CIA.

[rob @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:48PM]

actually there are 2 additional inside photo's, but for some reason the 'tour' does not include them. instead it loops back to the 1st picture after the third. to get to the other two use the following URLs.

http://www.radaronline.com/photos/2007/12/saddam_hussein_yacht_surreal_estate_04.php

http://www.radaronline.com/photos/2007/12/saddam_hussein_yacht_surreal_estate_05.php

[nickroz @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:00PM]

Moustachio?

http://www.shawnimals.com/moustachio/

[Darak @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:01PM]

..Isn't it bad luck to rename a ship?

[nickroz @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:05PM]

Isn't it bad luck to own a merciless dictator's ship?

[Darak @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:07PM]

No.

[ethana2 @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:15PM]

Not even a miniature one.

It's such a pretty boat.. I-I mean /ship/.

[Ethan @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:06PM]

Sure, it LOOKS nice, but it's a real pain in the neck to get the mustachio smell out.

[David W. @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:11PM]

It's bad luck to rename a ship...

[IndiaTech @ Dec 23rd 2007 2:56AM]

Not really. Many great ships have been renamed.
EG: Indian Navy renamed HMS Hercules anf HMS Hermes were renamed INS Vikrant and INS Viraat.

[David W. @ Dec 23rd 2007 3:00AM]

*shrugs* I just heard it was one of those old-seaman beliefs...but I heard it from mythbusters, so who knows, haha

[Chris @ Dec 23rd 2007 11:05AM]

IIRC, the legend only applies to the person who renames a ship, so theoretically it's only bad luck for the seller, not the purchaser. Bid away!

[ratnikh @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:30PM]

A little Democracy-Fresh Fabreze works wonders. I used it when I bought Kim Jong Il's golf cart on ebay, now it smells like freedom again.

[austin @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:06PM]

you dont give a little man with a little man complex big bombs

[Zeus the God @ Dec 22nd 2007 8:13PM]

I like to call it "Napoleon disorder".

[Brent @ Dec 22nd 2007 4:52PM]

Is that a magic eye poster in the space for hangin picture? I'm picturing Saddam staring at it for weeks trying to see the sailboat mallrats style.

Is it just me or does $34 million seem like a pretty good deal for this?

[Andir3.0 @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:34PM]

Oh look, a schooner!

[WhiteRtlNav @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:04PM]

So let me get this right... A yacht, that symbolizes a dictator's decades of ruthless rule, can now be purchased by just anyone with enough money? Exactly who owns this yacht, and who gets the 34 million? Shouldn't the yacht be destroyed instead? Something's just wrong here.

[The Dude @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:16PM]

Who owns it? Probably a company with a no bid government contract. If anyone should benefit from this sale, it should be the Iraqi people. But, I'm not holding my breath. After all, this is the same government that illegally invaded a sovereign country based on false pretenses.

[ethana2 @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:11PM]

"A yacht, that symbolizes a dictator's decades of ruthless rule, can now be purchased by just anyone with enough money?"

We call that 'beautiful irony'.

[Smith @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:13PM]

For a second there, when you said dictator, I was like, "When did Bush grow a mustache?"

[austin @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:35PM]

im gonna buy it and rename it so-damn-insane

[Jon Doe @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:57PM]

Why would you name it after Bush?

[ethana2 @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:10PM]

..or the chief of the RIAA or Steve Ballmer..

[Jon Doe @ Dec 22nd 2007 5:57PM]

Has anyone checked the hold? Maybe those fabled weapons of mass distraction are there.....no that wasn't a typo.

[austin @ Dec 22nd 2007 6:05PM]

we went into iraqistan looking for wmds. we didnt find more than a squirt gun.