By
Rebecca Gibson |
Ultra-luxury cruise line Seabourn is to equip its two new purpose-built expedition ships with custom-designed subs, which will take guests on underwater excursions.
Designed exclusively for Seabourn Venture and her yet-to-be-named sister ship, the two U-Boat Worx Cruise Sub 7 subs will be powered by batteries and carry up to six guests and one pilot. Guests will sit in rotating seats in two transparent acrylic spheres flanking a central pilot station. The subs will be able to go 300 metres beneath the ocean surface.
Other key features on the subs include underwater LED floodlights and spotlights, imaging sonar, an advanced underwater tracking and navigation system and a six-function manipulator arm capable of lifting up to 32 kilograms. There will also be a 4k underwater video camera system to capture underwater recordings, which will later be projected on large screens in the ships’ Discovery Centers during lectures. An internal video recording system will take images of guests in the subs.
Luxury amenities for guests will include custom-embroidered leather upholstery on the seats, two air conditioning systems, a Bluetooth stereo system and a champagne chiller.
“The undersea world is often considered as the last great frontier on Earth, with more than 80% of the underwater realm remaining unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,” said Robin West, vice president of Expedition Operations for Seabourn. “With these subs, we’re going to take our guests to places that few have ever seen first-hand, leaving them with a perspective on the world around us that is jaw-dropping and will create stories to last a lifetime.”
Seabourn Venture is scheduled to launch in June 2021, while her sister will debut in May 2022. Between July 2021 and April 2022, Seabourn Venture will visit remote destinations in the Arctic, Antarctica, Amazon, Caribbean, Central and South America and many other countries.