For all you yacht lovers...

This might become a weekly feature. (OK. Not weekly.) (Click on pictures to enlarge)

This is a cute little gem and it can be yours for a cool $35 million. Considering it is one of the top 30 mega-yachts in the world, the price is an absolute bargain, (even if it needs a refit.) To build it new today would cost you at least $148 million.

Specifications, (for you purists), are impressive. Built in 1981, by Helsingoer Vaerft, Denmark this 2282 tonne, 269 foot, twin engine diesel yacht is powered by two 3000 horsepower MTUs, cruises at 18 knots and has a range of 7000 miles. It is all steel construction with a crew of 35. It has luxury accommodation for 28 guests including the owner's palatial master cabin.

Some of the other details, (for you style wonks), include several salons with multiple wide-screen televisions, pools, saunas, a helicopter pad, a gold and blue interior, an executive galley and gold plumbing fixtures. It is reported that the interior decoration is based on the Disney animated feature Aladdin.

And now for some of the features you won't normally find in a yacht, it sports bullet-proof windows, a missile launcher and secret passages leading to... (ready?).... a miniature escape submarine.

It all sounds so very James Bond, doesn't it?

Before you run down to the bank you should be aware that there are a few problems surrounding its current ownership. Sudeley Ltd., a Grand Caymans Islands company where the Ocean Breeze is registered, claims ownership. A French court in Nice, France, where the Ocean Breeze is berthed, isn't convinced however and has blocked the sale of the vessel.

You see, Ocean Breeze is its new, very peaceful-sounding name. It was formerly named Qadisiyah Saddam.

Right! This marvelous floating gin-palace was built for Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi government either wants it back or to be able to see documents transferring ownership - prior to Saddam's execution.

Lawyers for Sudeley are trying to show that the boat no longer belongs to the family of Saddam Hussein. They say the boat was passed on firstly to the King of Saudi Arabia and then to King Abdullah of Jordan.

The Nice tribunal, however, has said that no documents exist to prove the transfer of ownership.

The Iraqi state suspects members of Saddam Hussein's entourage of hiding behind the offshore firm in the hope of profiting from the sale.

In truth, Saddam never did use it. During the war with Iran he had it moved to the Red Sea port of Jedda and never returned to Iraq.

Qadisiyah Saddam was not Saddam's "big" yacht. That "honour" fell to Al Mansour, a 420 foot, 7400 tonne monster with an armour-plated bow to protect the staterooms that Saddam reserved for himself and his family.

Al Mansour was one of the Bush administration's shock and awe targets and witness reports suggest the US military attacked it with bombs and missiles 16 times before leaving the burned out hulk alone and still floating. It sank a few months later after Iraqis looted it.

And Saddam never even set foot on Al Mansour.