Posted on by JP

Diving the Bowbelle

I travelled to the town of Funchal on the island of Madeira to dive the wreck of the Bowbelle, the dredger that was involved in a collision with the pleasure boat Marchioness in August 1989, in with 51 young people lost their lives.

You can read the article I wrote for Dive Magazine here.


Underwater cameraman and Marchioness disaster survivor Andrew Sutton touching the bow of the Bowbelle.
Scratching the metal, the name “Bowbelle” can still clrearly be seen, even though the ship had been renamed “Bom Rey”.
Underwater cameraman and Marchioness disaster survivor Andrew Sutton having a moment of reflection in front of the wreck of the Bowbelle.
Everything is still there inside the bridge. Here’s the VHF microphone.
Underwater cameraman and Marchioness disaster survivor Andrew Sutton having a moment of reflection on the bow of the Bowbelle.
Bowbelle propeller
Marchioness disaster survivors Andrew Sutton and Jonathan Phang moored over the wreck of the Bowbelle.