So what if your super-yacht has a laser shield, heliport, and discotheques? Today’s mobile island for the 0.01 per cent isn’t complete without it’s own deep-diving C-Explorer 5 mini-sub. Seriously, even Vladimir Putin thinks this “subsea limousine” is awesome, and that guy hates almost anything that requires a shirt.
At 5.2m long, 3.7m wide, and 2.1m tall, the C-Explorer 5 (CE5) is the largest submersible built by famed Dutch mini-sub manufacturer U-Boat Worx. The CE5 can whisk a group of four passengers as well as a pilot as far as 304.8m below the waves and poke around the ocean’s depths in air conditioned comfort.
The CE5 is powered by a 43.2kWh Li-ion battery that allows for dives lasting up to 16 hours and can maintain critical life support for up to 96. The mini-sub utilizes two pairs of 2kW thrusters for underwater manoeuvring with a 3 knot top speed. A secondary pair of 1.2kW thrusters to aid in lateral movement are available but they’ll cost you extra.
And like its smaller, research-oriented brethren, the 1000m CE2, this posh sub comes with a host of optional accessories including manipulator arms, sonar, HD cameras and recording equipment. The CE5 is so extravagant that it even comes with an optional tethered mini-ROV. It’s a submarine that comes with its own submarine — somebody get Xzibit on the line.
It should be noted, however, that you cannot afford one. You and all your buddies together could not afford one. The CE5 starts, starts, at $US2.4 million dollars and only goes up from there. Plus you have to undergo three weeks of U-Boat Worx training to learn how to pilot it [U-Boat Worx 1, 2]