A personal submarine – the C-Explorer

Posted: 12 Dec 2013 12:56 PM PST

The Dutch submarine maker “U-Boat Worx” is not afraid to experiment and, despite producing a two-seater personal submarine at present, has increased the passenger space in their latest model to three people. The “C-Explorer 3″ was launched at the Monaco Yacht Show and will be in production by the end of 2013. So, if you want to follow in the footsteps of Captain Nemo you need to be ready to sacrifice a lot of time and money because it take at least 24 hours of sailing to learn to command this vessel.

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A Personal Submarine

Over time, we have introduced a number of innovative water-gadgets, but the true user-friendly personal submarine seemes to be the preserve of James Bond movies. The C-Quester models of U-Boat Worx were manufactured a few years ago, the first civilian submarines that allowed short dives of up to one hundred meters. With the launch of the C-Explorer series, the Dutch engineers have expanded the reach of their personal submarines to a thousand meters and their duration to eight hours. Furthermore, they intend to expand the number of passengers to two in order to appeal to research organizations and tourism companies. Until now a C-Explorer would cost you $1 (≈ $1),800,000 to $2 (≈ $2),000,000, which makes it attractive at best to multi-millionaires with a penchant for Jules Verne.

Diving from April 2014

The company is planning the production of a total of six C-Explorer 3s. Two submarines have already been sold to interested parties from the United Arab Emirates, reservations had been made for two others. The specifications differ slightly from the two-seater model. Four motors with 2kW each performance are driven by a 15.6 kWh lithium-ion battery and permits speeds of about 15 km/h. Speed freaks can expand this to 31.2 kWh batteries, doubling peak velocity and dive time.

The acrylic glass dome of the cockpit was 5cm in thickness (C-Quester series) but is now expanded to 17.5 cm to withstand pressure conditions at a 1000m. As a gadget, the engineers installed a mobile navigation unit that can be passed on by the captain of the submarine to his passengers.

The C-Explorer has been dive-tested by non-other that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, as last July he explored the wreck of the Navy frigate “Oleg” in the Gulf of Finland. The trip involved a dive to 60m and pleased both engineers and photo-opportunist alike.

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