Yachts are a trend among billionaires. The market for these luxury boats has skyrocketed after the pandemic, causing some quite particular situations. On the one hand, the shipyards cannot cope with the number of orders they receive, and on the other, there are people paying a fortune to secure a place to dock.
Despite this reality, there are those who are looking for something more. Having a boat worth hundreds of millions of dollars is not enough. And, since this industry never sleeps, it has not taken long for an alternative to yachts to emerge: luxury submarines. The main exponent of this idea is Migaloo Submarines, the company responsible for the Migaloo M5 concept.
Migaloo M5, a hybrid between a yacht and a submarine
The concept of luxury submarines is not completely new. Some companies have been designing and manufacturing this type of vehicles for a long time, however, they are very far from the idea that suggests Migaloo. The dream of this company is, basically, to mix the characteristics of yachts with those of submarines. The result? A boat that does not go unnoticed.
“We believe that submersible megayachts are the future of navigation,” say the founders of this company. We are talking about Christian Gumpold and Christopher Gloning, two members of a yacht design studio called MOTION CODE: BLUE who, after years of work, thought about embarking on a completely different project.
It has been more than a decade since these specialists began making conceptual designs. They have changed radically in each remake thanks to feedback that they have received from potential owners. Now is when they believe that the concept is evolved enough to move to the next level: making it a reality.
For Migaloo, the viability of his luxury submarine project “has been discussed and approved.” We assume that carrying out a project of such magnitude will mean overcoming a huge number of economic, technical and regulatory challenges. In any case, we see the Migaloo M5 concept in a little more detail, which, by the way, is extremely interesting.
The luxury submarine would be 165.8 meters long, 23 meters wide and with a draft of 8.6 m. Propulsion would be carried out by a system electric diesel with AIP (the Spanish Isaac Peral has an AIP system) capable of producing a maximum speed of 20 knots on the surface and 12 knots submerged. The immersion limit would be 250 meters.
Those responsible for the project imagine the Migaloo M5 being capable of transporting a maximum of 40 people (including the crew). The submarine would have an interior with a huge amount of amenities, satellite television and internet, interactive touch walls and even a cinema, and could even house other vehicles.
Migaloo has included in its design a landing pad for a helicopter, they mention as an example the Bell 407 o Bell 429which can also be used by drones. They also hope that the submarine can deploy mini-submarines, jet skis and diving equipment. The proposal, as we can see, does not skimp on the level of ambition on what it could be.
The CEO of the firm, Christian Gumpold, says that owners will be able to choose which shipyard the Migaloo M5 will be built in, although they recommend that it be located in Germany. Although the project will be developed in a shipyard of their choice, they say, Migaloo will be the firm in charge of representing the future owners of the vessel and directing the project.
Images | Migaloo
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*An earlier version of this article was published in December 2023
