Popular boat restaurant not returning to waterfront

A restaurant that was removed from Ipswich waterfront after 36 years will not be returning, its owner told the BBC.

Mariners, based in a boat in Neptune's Quay, was relocated in May for maintenance work.

But owner Julien Jourdain said the boat would not be returning due to the "rising cost associated with operating and maintaining such a historic vessel".

He explained that added pressures faced by the hospitality industry at the moment also contributed to "the difficult decision to close the door of this iconic venue".

Speaking about the boat initially being relocated, he said: "It's always been [the plan] to dry dock because we had to have a sort of MOT for the boat, and that had to happen this year," he explained.

"It wasn't really good news because the boat had not been dried out for so long that it didn't really, I would say, pass the MOT."

Due to the issues found, Jourdain said it would be too costly to fix the boat, which dates back to 1899.

Jourdain felt that if the rising costs in the industry had not been such an issue, he might have been able to save the boat.

"I do run another venue as well, which is the Bistro on the Quay across the road," he continued.

"We are facing the rising cost of everything, from insurance to everything that we use in the kitchen, electricity, and of course, the national insurance and everything else."

Jourdain worked on the boat alongside his dad when he was 15, and he developed a love for it. He took it over in 2018.

"I just fell in love with the boat," he continued. "I fell in love with Suffolk [and] England as a whole.

"For me, it's a very big blow because obviously we are losing not only an iconic restaurant, but we are losing something that made me in a way."

Do you have a story suggestion for Suffolk? Contact us below.

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.