Within a year of its founding in 2005, U-Boat Worx delivered the first craft meeting its goal of making subsea journeys more accessible. Nearly 20 years later, it’s just delivered its 60th personal submersible. This custom Super Yacht Sub 3 series model not only allows passengers to experience deep depths, but also shows how the company’s use of technology has evolved.
The Super Yacht Sub 3 series has a three-person capacity—including a pilot—and can dive about 300 meters, or just shy of 1,000 feet. That depth is the ocean twilight zone, a.k.a. the dysphotic zone, with little light penetration. A significant biomass of fish and other organisms actually live solely at these levels. On a safety note, an automated feature raises the sub to its permitted operating depth if the pilot guides it too far down. U-Boat Worx engineers the Super Yacht Sub 3 to travel at 3 knots, and with a wide acrylic viewing sphere.
Superyacht owners and guests, the intended customers for the Super Yacht Sub 3 series, can travel in comfort while aboard. U-Boat Worx equips each with air conditioning, adjustable from each seat, for instance. The seats themselves are plush as well. The choices of the owner taking delivery of sub number 60 remain confidential. Generally speaking, though, customers can request a drinks chiller, Bluetooth sound system, underwater lights, and a manipulator arm (to grasp buried treasure). Superyacht crew, meanwhile, appreciate how a single lifting point makes launching and retrieving the sub simpler. And, of course, the sub is compact enough to suit many yachts’ tender garages.
All of this therefore reflects how far U-Boat Worx has come from its first sub. The C-Quester series (below, left) was the initial launch. It had a much smaller viewing dome, for example, and could dive to 50 meters (164 feet). The second iteration of the series, meanwhile, could dive to 100 meters (about 330 feet). It came out a few years afterwards. Notably, though, the original C-Quester series was the first commercially available sub with lithium-ion battery operations.
Twenty years and reportedly tens of thousands of dives later, U-Boat Worx is even more confident of yacht owners’ desires to explore the depths. All design, engineering, and production are in house, for the Super Yacht Sub 3 series and other series. This allows it to retain full control and make personalization easier. In fact, the owner of sub number 60 requested a bronze metallic color for the exterior.
“Our 60th submarine is more than just a number—it reflects years of hard work, innovation, and close collaboration with our clients,” Erik Hasselman, the company’s commercial director, says. “We’re committed to working even more closely with our clients to unlock incredible experiences, expeditions, and new discoveries.”
U-Boat Worx uboatworx.com
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