Converted river yacht in Wasit waiting on permits before it can carry passengers

WASIT — A river yacht converted from a service boat is sitting idle in the district of Nu’maniyah, west of Kut, as its owner waits for operating permits to clear several government ministries before he can open the vessel to leisure trips.

Alaa al-Quraishi told 964media he bought the boat while providing transportation services during construction of the Gharadhiyah Bridge in Kut, then moved it to Nu’maniyah when the project ended. “From there came the idea of converting it into a tourist yacht that would serve the people of Wasit and provide a recreational destination,” he said.

The vessel was originally purchased from Shatt al-Arab in Basra and designed by an Iraqi company based on a Japanese plan. Quraishi said the conversion was carried out with input from specialists and based on his own experience, and that safety measures were built in from the design stage, including secure hull compartments built to shipbuilding standards. The finished yacht will carry life jackets, lifebuoys and fire extinguishers.

The licensing application is moving between multiple agencies. “Starting with the Ministry of Water Resources and ending with the Maritime Transport Authority in Basra,” Quraishi said. “These are routine procedures, but they take a long time.” He called on government agencies to show “greater flexibility” to help bring the project to fruition. “All the effort invested in designing the yacht has been completed,” he said, “but the effort of processing the paperwork has not ended yet.”