Boeing 747 towed across ocean ready to be sunk into new underwater theme park in Bahrain

IT was plane sailing for this Boeing 747 as it was towed out across the ocean to be sunk as part of a new theme park.

The old plane, which was built in 1981. was submerged off the coast near Bahrain as part of a forthcoming diving theme park set to open in 2019.

It marks a milestone for the development, which is located approximately 30 kilometres north of Amwaj in Bahrain.

The 70m-long airplane, last registered as TF-AAA, will then be transformed into a diving site, with hopes that it will become a larger marine habitat where visitors can get up close to all hosts of sea creatures and plants.

It’s no doubt set to be the piece de resistance within the new attraction, Dive Bahrain, which is set to become the world’s largest underwater theme park when it opens in Bahrain later this summer 2019.

The attraction will offer 100,000 sq m of activities and trails for divers, ranging from colourful artificial reefs to underwater sculptures.

Before the plane was sunk a specialised team removed “all possibly toxic substances” in a bid to preserve the marine environment.

It is hoped the setting not only provides a playground for high-spending tourists but also encourage marine life and act as a way of improving the state of the Gulf’s reefs.

Planes have been used as a dive site in the past.

A C130 Hercules was sunk just off the coast of Aqaba, Jordan as a way of attracting tourists.

In 1993, a 727 was sunk off the coast of Miami, while in 2016, Turkey sunk an A300 in the Aegean Sea, just off Kuşadası.

In Canada, there’s a 737 in the Stuart Channel.