Virgin Aquatic
Encyclopedia
Virgin Oceanic is an undersea leisure venture of Newport Beach, CA businessman Chris Welsh and Sir Richard Branson
, part of Sir Richard Branson
's Virgin Group
. The brand was first reported in a 2009 Time Magazine interview.
Currently the offering is limited to to the shallow water "wet" submersible, Graham Hawkes
's Hawkes Ocean Technologies
Deep Flight Merlin named Necker Nymph
after Branson's private island in the British Virgin Islands
, Virgin Limited Edition
Necker Island
.
The company plans to launch a deep sea submersible capable of carrying its passenger to extreme ocean depths. The deep sea adventure will be supported by the 125-ft super-catamaran
Cheyenne mothership, and plans to use the HOT
DeepFlight Challenger sub to make dives to the depths of the worlds oceans. Both the catamaran and the submersible were formerly owned by Steve Fossett
, who had modified the racing catamaran to become the mothership for his planned oceanic dive record attempt. After Steve Fossett
's death the project went on hold until Chris Welsh purchased the equipment from Fossett's estate and restarted the endeavor.
ever having reached the deepest known point in the ocean at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, back in 1960.The sub's outer casing is made of a carbon fiber composite and is designed to maximize hydrodynamics. The second level of casing holds the batteries, dive tanks and all other components. The third and inner most layer is made of titanium with a quartz crystal viewing dome. Instead of using ballast like a typical submersible the DeepFlight Challenger will "fly" to the ocean floor using propulsion. The DeepFlight Challenger uses a custom Lithium Ion battery system to power its two motors.
– about 11 kilometers (7 mi) below the ocean's surface. This will be the first time since 1960 that human eyes have set sight here – when the bathyscaphe
, Trieste
(which moved straight up & down like a hot air balloon) briefly touched down carrying co-pilots Don Walsh
and Jacques Piccard
. This time, the plan is for a sub that "flies" more akin to an airplane which should allow its solo pilot, Chris Welsh
, to not only reach the deepest point on Earth, but to then “fly” along the bottom of the Trench for up to an additional 10 kilometers (6 mi).
The second dive planned – to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench – will be piloted by Sir Richard Branson
. This trench is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean at over 8 kilometers (5 mi) below sea level. This location is also near to Branson’s home and resort on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
Subsequent dives will be planned to carry a human pilot to the bottom of the Arctic, Southern and Indian oceans. Less than 3% of the seafloor has been explored, and none of the deepest points of the planet's oceans have ever been explored [citation needed?] beyond a brief visit to one. The opportunities to see and learn from such dives are viewed as monumental.
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
, part of Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
's Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
. The brand was first reported in a 2009 Time Magazine interview.
Currently the offering is limited to to the shallow water "wet" submersible, Graham Hawkes
Graham Hawkes
Graham Hawkes is a London-born marine engineer and submarine designer. Through the 1980s and 1990s, Hawkes designed 70% of the manned submersibles produced in those two decades...
's Hawkes Ocean Technologies
Hawkes Ocean Technologies
Hawkes Ocean Technologies is a marine engineering firm that specializes in consumer submarines, founded by Graham Hawkes. It is headquartered in San Francisco.-Hawkes Remotes:...
Deep Flight Merlin named Necker Nymph
Necker Nymph
Necker Nymph is an open-cockpit submersible vehicle that relies on hydrodynamic forces for anti-lift force, and is positively buoyant. It is the initial example of the DeepFlight Merlin class of submersibles manufactured by Hawkes Ocean Technologies, based on the DeepFlight submersible technology...
after Branson's private island in the British Virgin Islands
British Virgin Islands
The Virgin Islands, often called the British Virgin Islands , is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S...
, Virgin Limited Edition
Virgin Limited Edition
Virgin Limited Edition, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group of business ventures, is a collection of vacation retreats around the world.The sites are selected for their prime locations and attractive surroundings and together comprise a collection of some of the world’s prime real estate.-...
Necker Island
Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)
Necker Island is a small island in the British Virgin Islands just north of Virgin Gorda, located at . All of the land on the island is owned by Sir Richard Branson, famous for his Virgin brand, and it is part of the Virgin Limited Edition portfolio of luxury properties...
.
The company plans to launch a deep sea submersible capable of carrying its passenger to extreme ocean depths. The deep sea adventure will be supported by the 125-ft super-catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
Cheyenne mothership, and plans to use the HOT
Hawkes Ocean Technologies
Hawkes Ocean Technologies is a marine engineering firm that specializes in consumer submarines, founded by Graham Hawkes. It is headquartered in San Francisco.-Hawkes Remotes:...
DeepFlight Challenger sub to make dives to the depths of the worlds oceans. Both the catamaran and the submersible were formerly owned by Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
, who had modified the racing catamaran to become the mothership for his planned oceanic dive record attempt. After Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett
James Stephen Fossett was an American commodities trader, businessman, and adventurer. Fossett is the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon...
's death the project went on hold until Chris Welsh purchased the equipment from Fossett's estate and restarted the endeavor.
Deep Flight Challenger
This deep sea submersible, currently in the construction and testing phase, seats one person. The company has stated that it will be able to dive to the deepest part of the ocean, which has been measured to be somewhere between 10.91 kilometres (6.78 mi) deep and 11.03 kilometres (6.85 mi) deep. There are currently no other manned submersibles in operation capable of reaching those depths, with only one sub in history, the Bathyscaphe TriesteBathyscaphe Trieste
The Trieste is a Swiss-designed, Italian-built deep-diving research bathyscaphe with a crew of two, which reached a record maximum depth of about , in the deepest known part of the Earth's oceans, the Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench near Guam, on January 23, 1960, crewed by Jacques Piccard ...
ever having reached the deepest known point in the ocean at the bottom of the Marianas Trench, back in 1960.The sub's outer casing is made of a carbon fiber composite and is designed to maximize hydrodynamics. The second level of casing holds the batteries, dive tanks and all other components. The third and inner most layer is made of titanium with a quartz crystal viewing dome. Instead of using ballast like a typical submersible the DeepFlight Challenger will "fly" to the ocean floor using propulsion. The DeepFlight Challenger uses a custom Lithium Ion battery system to power its two motors.
5 Dives
Over the course of 2012 and beyond, Virgin Oceanic plans for their one-person sub to journey to the deepest part of each of Earth’s five oceans. The first dive is planned for the deepest place on the planet: the bottom of the Mariana TrenchMariana Trench
The Mariana Trench or Marianas Trench is the deepest part of the world's oceans. It is located in the western Pacific Ocean, to the east of the Mariana Islands. The trench is about long but has a mean width of only...
– about 11 kilometers (7 mi) below the ocean's surface. This will be the first time since 1960 that human eyes have set sight here – when the bathyscaphe
Bathyscaphe
A bathyscaphe is a free-diving self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a bathysphere, but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic bathysphere design....
, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
(which moved straight up & down like a hot air balloon) briefly touched down carrying co-pilots Don Walsh
Don Walsh
Don Walsh is an American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist. He and Jacques Piccard were aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste when it made a record maximum descent into the Mariana Trench on 23 January 1960, the deepest point of the world's ocean...
and Jacques Piccard
Jacques Piccard
Jacques Piccard was a Swiss oceanographer and engineer, known for having developed underwater vehicles for studying ocean currents. He was one of only two people, along with Lt...
. This time, the plan is for a sub that "flies" more akin to an airplane which should allow its solo pilot, Chris Welsh
Chris Welsh
Christopher Charles Welsh is a former Major League Baseball pitcher and a current sportscaster for the Cincinnati Reds. He was a left-hander with a career ERA of 4.45 and career win/loss record of 22-31. He graduated from St...
, to not only reach the deepest point on Earth, but to then “fly” along the bottom of the Trench for up to an additional 10 kilometers (6 mi).
The second dive planned – to the bottom of the Puerto Rico Trench – will be piloted by Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
. This trench is the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean at over 8 kilometers (5 mi) below sea level. This location is also near to Branson’s home and resort on Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.
Subsequent dives will be planned to carry a human pilot to the bottom of the Arctic, Southern and Indian oceans. Less than 3% of the seafloor has been explored, and none of the deepest points of the planet's oceans have ever been explored [citation needed?] beyond a brief visit to one. The opportunities to see and learn from such dives are viewed as monumental.