The Galeb "sails" again

11/06/2009

Tito's luxury yacht heads for an overhaul after being sold to a city in Croatia.

By Ivo Scepanovic for Southeast European Times in Split – 11/06/09

The former dictator's yacht is to be renovated into a floating museum. [Ivo Scepanovic]

For years, former Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito's yacht, The Galeb (The Seagull), has sat idle in the Viktor Lenac shipyard, on Croatia's north coast. As of late last month, however, that changed, when it was purchased by the city of Rijeka. The city intends to renovate the ship, and turn it into a floating museum.

The renovation won't be its first. Built as a Yugoslav naval ship in Genoa, Italy in 1938, the 117m-long vessel was seized by the Germans in 1943. The ship was sunk in 1944 off the coast of Rijeka by the Allies. It was pulled out of the sea in 1948, and reconstructed to the present-day Galeb in 1952.

Tito used the ship until his death in 1980, sailing approximately 160km on political missions. He also used the Galeb as a venue to entertain a number of politicians and celebrities, including British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, former Egyptian President Abdel Nasser, former Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Hollywood stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Rijeka purchased it for 107,000 euros.

"The yacht was rescued from a purchase of someone that would … sell it as scrap iron. The reconstruction should be completed under expert supervision," said Mayor Vojko Obersnel.

The expected cost of renovation is upwards of 7m euros.

However, the sale did not go smoothly. The yacht was seized and put up for auction after the owner, shipping magnate John Paul Papanicolaou, failed to pay his harbour fee at Lenac shipyard, where he planned to have the yacht renovated.

Papanicolaou's lawyer filed a lawsuit in 2006 to halt the sale, which is still pending.

The Galeb is expected to remain anchored in the Rijeka Harbor and become a tourist attraction. Visitors will be able to come aboard, order a coffee and soak up the ambiance of the historic yacht.