Triton submarine explores the deepest 2% of the ocean

Florida-based Triton wants to explore the deepest two per cent of the ocean, although for the moment it’s confined to the relative shallows. Its submarine can take two people 2,000m beneath the surface of the ocean – and its makers aim to go even deeper. “We’re revamping this model so it will be capable of carrying a pilot and a passenger to depths of 2,200m,” said Patrick Lahey, the company’s president.

To achieve this, Triton needs to make the cabin of its 7500/2 model (pictured) thicker to withstand deep-ocean pressure. It’s currently made from 235mm-thick acrylic glass known as PMMA. The cabin for the new sub will be 261mm, making it the thickest transparent acrylic barrier ever produced. “It’s possible for a person to go to the Black Sea’s deepest point inside a transparent pressure boundary,” Lahey said. To mold the cabins to withstand such depths, the acrylic is cut and formed in an autoclave.

Originally designed as recreational vehicles for superyacht owners, Triton’s submersibles are now being used by marine scientists and documentary makers to research and film previously unseen corners of the ocean. But Lahey wants to go further, exploring the hadal zone, a series of underwater trenches that reach depths of 11,000m.

“Ninety-eight per cent of the ocean lies within 6,000m of the surface, so if we can hit 6,000m we can explore most of the ocean. But the remaining two per cent is actually quite a big area,” he said.

Triton has designed a model that could theoretically dive to this depth: “[The cabin] couldn’t be made of acrylic because it can’t withstand those sorts of pressures – instead, it would be made of glass.” WIRED hopes it won’t be asked to do the test run.