Onlookers watch as Mariners boat leaves Ipswich Waterfront
A small crowd gathered along Neptune's Quay this morning to watch the Mariners restaurant boat – a Waterfront landmark closed since the festive period – be towed away by two vessels for maintenance at Pin Mill.
Why it matters: The Mariners boat has been a fixture of the Ipswich Waterfront for years, and its departure leaves an eerily visible gap in the marina at one of the town's most prominent destinations.
The details: The boat left Ipswich docks at 09:30 on Monday, 18 May, bound for Pin Mill, where it will undergo maintenance. No timeframe has been given for how long the boat will be away.
For context: Mariners has been closed since after the festive period. In February, its operators said they had "chosen to take a break" to regroup and plan next steps, with staff and many of the restaurant's classic dishes moved to its sister site, Bistro on the Quay, opposite where Mariners is moored on Neptune's Quay.
No date has been confirmed for the restaurant to reopen.
The bigger picture: Mr Jourdain bought the boat in 2018. Before its 2009 rebrand as Mariners, it traded as Il Punto. The vessel itself has a long history beyond Ipswich: originally a Belgian navy ship, it was interned in the Netherlands during the First World War and spent time in Hamburg during the Second World War, where it was refitted as a Red Cross hospital ship.
The bottom line: With Mariners now gone for maintenance and no return date set, a familiar feature of the Ipswich Waterfront is absent from the marina for the foreseeable future. We hope to welcome it back soon.
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