140 | theceomagazine.com
DEEP-SEA DEMAND
Since being founded in 2009, OceanGate’s submarines
have conducted more than 150 dives in the Pacific, the
Atlantic and the Gulf of MexicoTAKING THE PLUNGE
One company at the forefront of this sub-sea
charge is Blue Marble Private. The London tour
company is offering trips in 2018 that take
adventurers on 10-day missions from the coast
of Newfoundland to the site of the Titanic at a cost
of around US$99,800.
“Far fewer people have visited the wreck of
the Titanic than the number who have been to
space or summited Mount Everest,” the company’s
website reads. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime
experience and an expedition designed only for
those with a truly adventurous spirit.”
US-based OceanGate, led by charismatic
CEO Stockton Rush, is also planning to dive to
the site of the Titanic, one of the most well-known
deep-sea attractions located 3,800 metres below
the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean. It aims
to make its first dive in 2019.
The company, which has been running less
ambitious dives since 2009, is in the final stages of
developing a five-person submarine that can dive
to the depth of 4,000 metres – deep enough to
take bold luxury travellers to the famous wreck.
Meanwhile, The Bluefish, a UK-headquartered
“experiential concierge firm”, also pledges to take
adventurous travellers on dives to the iconic site.
Like its rivals, The Bluefish offering is not
for those on a budget, costing a minimum of
US$60,000. For that price, you get a seat on the
11-hour dive to the wreck on a Soviet-built
miniature submarine, one-night’s accommodation,
all meals, and a trip out to the dive-site on support
ship Akademik Keldysh.
Other deep-water destinations that could be
big lures for luxury operators include the wreck of
the German World War II vessel Bismarck in the
North Atlantic, the dazzling rock formations of the
mid-Atlantic’s hydrothermal vents, and even the
11,000-metre-deep Mariana Trench in the Pacific.
As well as the luxury start-ups, there are several
other players located in holiday destinations such
as Substation Curaçao on the eponymous South
American island, and Atlantis Submarines across
12 locations including Hawaii, Cozumel and Grand
Cayman, that are already taking paying customers
beneath the sea, but not to such extreme depths.
For those who want deep-sea excursions all
to themselves, there’s also the option of buying
a superyacht that doubles as a deep-dive private
sub. Migaloo Private Submersible Yachts, for
instance, offers UHNWIs yachts that function as
both conventional boats and underwater vehicles.
However, the Austrian company’s futuristic
vessels do not come cheap, with one of its
products, the 283-metre-long M7, said to retail
for a staggering US$3.1 billion.BRAGGING RIGHTS
David Beirman, senior lecturer in tourism at the
University of Technology Sydney, says growing
demand for deep-sea travel is linked to the recent
boom in global tourism, especially at the luxury
end of the Asian market.
The numbers back him up. International
tourism arrivals across the globe were up seven
per cent in 2017, representing the best result in
seven years, according to official data from the
UN World Tourism Organization.
The increase in global tourists is making niche
markets at the top end of the market, like deep-sea
travel, increasingly viable, Beirman says.