Companies are racing to build the most luxurious private submarine in a new market catering to the ultra-wealthy of the world.
With features including helipads, pools, VIP suites and the ability to dive into total seclusion, the next generation of private subs promise to be among the world’s most expensive private objects.
At the highest end of the market, three companies are vying for supremacy: Austria’s Migaloo Private Submersible Yachts, the Netherlands’ Ocean Submarine, and Florida’s US Submarines.
Currently on the drawing board from Migaloo is the 928-foot-long M7, with an eye-watering estimated price of $2.3billion
The 928-foot-long Migaloo M7 (pictured) is styled after the US Navy’s Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyer
The M7 boasts a helipad, swimming pool, VIP suites and multiple hangar bays for boats, mini-submersibles and other ‘toys’
Of the three, only Ocean Submarine has a civilian vessel under contract, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
The company is set to deliver its 64-foot Neyk L3 in 2018, with features including a a bar, galley, library and landing gear allowing the sub to land directly on beaches.
The L3’s price tag is $23.8million, and CEO Martin van Eijk would say only that the buyer is ‘a very rich client’.
Currently on the drawing board at Migaloo is the 928-foot-long M7, with an eye-watering estimated price of $2.3billion.
For comparison, the tallest building in the world, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, cost roughly $1.5billion.
Styled after the US Navy’s Zumwalt-class destroyer, the Migaloo M7 boasts a helipad, swimming pool, VIP suites and multiple hangar bays for boats, mini-submersibles and other ‘toys’.
The proposed sub will be able to dive to 1,500 feet and cruise underwater at 20 knots.
The planned Phoenix 1000 from US Submarines is designed to be 213 feet long with 5,000 square feet of interior
The $90million Phoenix 1000 is designed with large viewing portals for enchantment under the sea
An interior view of the Phoenix 1000 shows the decks of the underwater superyacht
A third ultra-luxury sub contender is the planned Phoenix 1000 from US Submarines.
The 213-foot-long submarine is designed with 5,000 square feet of interior and has an estimated cost of $90million.
The submarine’s specs indicated a diving depth of 1,000 feet and a submerged speed of 10 knots.
Not everyone is convinced that a boom in ultra-luxury submersibles is on the horizon, though.
‘It seems like a massively expensive engineering exercise—and an unproven one—in the recreational sector,’ Stewart Campbell, editor of Boat International, told Bloomberg.
‘You’re not getting much volume for the money, and the equivalent yacht will give you more of everything.’