’s $500,000 Nemo to deep-diving specialty subs costing tens of millions of dollars and users running the gamut from UHNW adventurers to ocean researchers to superyacht owners. Despite thedisaster, those in the know say levels of interest have remained the same, and even increased in some cases, while acknowledging no clear rationale as to why.
“We haven’t seen any cancellations, either with sub sales or the tourist dives we run in Curaçao,” says Erik Hasselman, commercial director of, we received calls asking about doing a submarine trip on its own rather than just an add-on to the end of a charter—that’srare,” says the head of one outfit, who requested anonymity. “I guess interest was piqued by the news coverage.
U-Boat Worx and Triton already build their submersibles to industry-leading DNV certification that includes codes on pressure testing, metal thickness, and welding, plus requirements for redundancies in food, air, and safety measures. “The way Oceangate got around U.S. regulations is they went to Canada,” says Carl Allen, founder of, whose fleet includes a Triton sub.
The real issue will be policy—and policing. “In terms of regulations, we know how to make subs safe,” says William Kohnen, chairman of the’s committee on manned submersibles. “We need to sit down with the Coast Guard, who has jurisdiction, and say, ‘We have all these good rules, let’s see how to enforce them.’ ” The challenge then becomes how to persuade other countries to sign the same protocols. “It’s going to be a conversation at the United Nations level,” Kohnen says.
Yet in the close-knit submersible community, June’s catastrophic implosion has little chance of being forgotten. “I haven’t gone on a sub since Oceangate,” says Allen. “But I will. And when I close that hatch, I’ll be thinking of the people that were on