German Man Sets World Record for Living 120 Days Underwater

AFP | Puerto Lindo
Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

A German aerospace engineer celebrated setting a world record on Friday for the longest time living underwater without depressurization — 120 days in a submerged capsule off the coast of Panama.

Rudiger Koch, 59, emerged from his 30-square-meter (320-square-foot) home under the sea in the presence of Guinness World Records adjudicator Susana Reyes. She confirmed that Koch had beaten the previous record held by American Joseph Dituri, who spent 100 days living in an underwater lodge in a Florida lagoon.

“It was a great adventure, and now that it’s over, there’s almost a sense of regret, actually. I enjoyed my time here very much,” Koch told AFP after leaving the capsule, which was 11 meters (36 feet) under the sea.

“It is beautiful when things calm down, and it gets dark, and the sea is glowing,” he said of the view through the portholes. “It is impossible to describe, you have to experience that yourself,” he added.

To celebrate, Koch toasted with champagne and smoked a cigar before leaping into the Caribbean Sea. A boat picked him up and took him to dry land for a celebratory party.

Koch’s capsule had most of the trappings of modern life: a bed, toilet, TV, computer, internet, and even an exercise bike. Located about 15 minutes by boat from the coast of northern Panama, it was attached to another chamber perched above the waves by a tube containing a narrow spiral staircase, providing a way down for food and visitors, including a doctor.

Solar panels on the surface provided electricity, and there was a backup generator, but no shower.

Koch had told an AFP journalist who visited him halfway through his endeavor that he hoped it would change the way we think about human life — and where we can settle, even permanently.