Play Captain Nemo Aboard Your Own Submarine Yacht
Have you ever dreamed of sipping cocktails while the Great Barrier Reef slipped by outside your bar window? Do you crave a catered multi-course meal while gazing up at ruins of lost cities submerged in the Mediterranean? For a cool $2.3 billion, this dream could be your reality.
Migaloo Submarines is a startup based in Austria that hopes to build submarine yachts for the world’s wealthiest sea-goers. And you know what, the business plan isn’t as crazy as it sounds.
First of all, even regular yachts are getting out of hand. They have become a necessary accessory for socializing within the elite circles of multi-billionaires. Some of these folks’ favorite hangouts are docks exclusively for 300+ foot “giga yachts” at places such as the Miami Yacht Show or at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s a handy way to ensure their ranks aren’t infiltrated by mere millionaires who can’t afford to roll with their own cruise ship (such as Bezos’ 417-foot behemoth).
When your social life is comparing the length of your yacht with the length of your friends’ yachts, you do get creative with your boat choice. The latest trend in giga yachts is “expedition yachts.” Many of these are refurbished and rebuilt on the hulls of go-anywhere ships such as arctic ice breakers. The earn their “expedition” status with stores of food and fuel that allow them to sail around the globe two or three times without docking once. And an increasing number of them carry a little submersible as a sort of high-tech party trick.
And that brings us to Migaloo. The startup is slapping an incredible price tag on some renders and blueprints. But the number is not out of reach for tech billionaires. And having a yacht the size (and with much of the tech) of a military submarine might be cool enough for them to shell out. Because military submarines cost about $1.5 billion, that’s enough profit margin to work out a few design difficulties.
Migaloo has published designs for submersible yachts about 70 feet long to 540 feet long that can dive as deep as 800 feet. It claims it could outfit some of these well enough to stay submerged for four weeks with 40+ crew and guests. Tech innovations include a design with a series of modular pressure hulls. One hull up top could hold a helicopter. Another hull could open and close to dock with a tender sub.
As you can see, Migaloo’s submersible yachts may be the same size and shape as a military submarine, but they look very different. Like most modern yachts, they are all white. they also have a large, flat deck that the crew will furnish when you feel like floating on the surface near all the peasants.
The name Migaloo comes from a specific albino humpback whale who was first discovered in 1998 and is still roaming the seas today.
We believe that Submersible Superyachts are the future of yachting. The needs of Superyacht Owners for their vessels are more complex than ever. These wishes do not just include performance, length or design. Owners are looking for privacy, security and protection for themselves, their guests and their valuables, or for the fulfillment of unique experiences up to scientific desires as well as for the greatest possible exclusivity and limitation.
Christian Gumpold, CEO and founder of Migaloo
Next see a replica of Hemingway’s boat that might be the ultimate restomod, or learn more about Migaloo Yachts in the video below:
