Saudi Arabia has built the world’s first underwater mosque, according to reports in an Arabic newspaper.

A group of divers from the kingdom built the mosque using plastic pipes filled with sand under the sea off the northwestern coast of the town of Tabuk, close to the border with Jordan, Almadina Arabic language daily reported.

“One of our colleagues came up with this idea last summer and we decided to carry it out,” diver Hamadan bin Salim Al Masoudi was reported as saying.

“We have just completed the construction of the mosque… when we put the final touches on it, it was time for afternoon prayers, so we performed group prayers in the first underwater mosque in history.”

The trend for underwater structures comes days after the shipbuilding arm of Dubai World announced plans to build a series of underwater hotels in the emirate.

In a statement released on May 2, Drydocks World said it has signed an agreement with a Swiss contractor to develop the World Discus Hotel, which is partly submerged under the sea.