Bahrain sank a Boeing 747 to create a dive theme park
Bahrain bought a retired Boeing 747 for about $100,000 from the UAE, spent months stripping every hazardous component, then carefully sank the jumbo in the Arabian Gulf. The aircraft is now the centerpiece of Dive Bahrain, which the kingdom calls the world’s largest underwater theme park—and the largest plane ever deliberately submerged.
Key Takeaways
- Bahrain paid roughly $100,000 for a retired Boeing 747 once flown by Malaysia Airlines.
- Specialists spent about eight months removing fuel systems, wiring, plastics and other contaminants.
- The jet was towed near the Amwaj Islands and lowered onto the seabed over about two days.
- Dive Bahrain spans 100,000 square meters and opened to the public in September 2019.
- The submerged 70-meter aircraft rests 20 to 24 meters down for divers of varied experience.
Why did Bahrain sink a Boeing 747?
Most retired jumbo jets end up in aircraft graveyards. Bahrain chose a different path: turn one into an artificial reef and tourist draw. According to reporting from Luxurylaunches, the kingdom acquired the aging airframe from the UAE for about $100,000—covering only the aircraft itself—then invested far more in making it environmentally safe.
Officials inaugurated Dive Bahrain on September 6, 2019. Bahrain’s Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, and Supreme Council for Environment chief Dr. Mohammed Mubarak Bin Daina completed the inaugural dive before the park opened to the public the next day.
How was the Boeing 747 prepared for the seabed?
The aircraft, manufacturer’s serial number 22442, began life against a British Airways order as G-BDXN but never entered that fleet. It flew for Malaysia Airlines as 9M-MHJ from April 8, 1982, later serving MASkargo, Focus Air Cargo and Air Atlanta Icelandic before storage at Fujairah in May 2013.
For roughly eight months, specialists removed fuel, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, plus wiring, insulation, plastics, rubber and adhesives. Project accounts say every nut and bolt was removed, cleaned of oil and reinstalled. Wings came off so the fuselage could travel by road from Fujairah Airport to the port, then were reattached with techniques modeled on original manufacturing methods.
Before the final voyage, crews repainted the jet in a lookalike of Boeing’s house livery from the original 1969 Boeing 747 prototype, the City of Everett—a tribute to the first jumbo.
Where does the underwater Boeing 747 sit today?
After a roughly 20-hour tow to a site about 18 miles north of the Amwaj Islands, near Bahrain International Airport, engineers used flotation gear and controlled deflation to lower the aircraft over about two days. It now rests 20 to 24 meters below the surface, nose slightly higher than the tail so newer divers can explore the forward fuselage more easily.
The 747 is the park’s star, but Dive Bahrain also includes a 900-square-meter replica of a traditional Bahraini pearl merchant’s house, sail structures, reef sculptures and coral nursery experiments. The project aims to follow international environmental standards while giving researchers a living laboratory for marine ecosystems.
For more unusual engineering and tourism projects, browse our Future Tech & AI Wonders hub. Few airliners have traded ocean routes for an ocean floor quite like this.