Opening the oceans for undersea recreation: DeepFlight Dragon personal submarine’s launch at Monaco Yacht Show 2015

DeepFlight announced the launch of the Dragon, its sixth generation personal submarine, at this year’s Monaco Yacht Show. The Dragon is designed for easy use from yacht or shore base: it is the only personal submarine with such an intuitive use individuals can safely pilot without needing long training.
An entirely new class of personal submarines has been designed and built to offer the inherent safety of positive buoyancy and automatically float back to the surface. The two-person Dragon is the most compact and lightweight submarine on the market, readily fitting into existing superyacht garages or deck areas and launching as easily as a tender. Maintenance can be minimal and easily carried out by existing crew.
The all-electric Dragon has enough power to rely solely on vertical thrust to dive, eliminating the complexity of the ballast systems that all competing submersibles use to get heavy and sink to depth. Moreover, the submarine’s battery management system allows for up to six hours of diving on one charge. The Dragon is equipped with the DeepFlight Dive Manager, a proprietary system monitoring and managing critical dive functions, which allows the operator to set depth and other limits.
Adam Wright, president of DeepFlight, stated “Over the past five years, we have transitioned the company to address the growing market for personal submarines. DeepFlight has removed all of the barriers to owning and operating a personal submarine, and DeepFlight craft are already in use on superyachts and at resorts and marinas around the world. We believe the Dragon, our newest model that will be officially launched at the 2015 Monaco Yacht Show, is a game changer in opening the oceans for undersea recreation.”
DeepFlight was founded in 1996 by renowned engineer Graham Hawkes with the goal of innovating underwater craft to open human access to the oceans. The Company has made significant technological breakthroughs, for instance applying the principles of flight underwater. In 2012, the company transitioned from a research and development firm to focus on commercializing its series of advanced personal submarines for the private ownership and recreational markets, including superyachts and tourism.