departure lounge
NEWS, BRIEFINGS, LOCAL KNOWLEDGE with Robert Upe
What lies beneath ... entrepreneurial trio Tony, James and John Collins who want to start submarine tours (main); a poster for the Deepsea Challenge movie; James Cameron in the hot seat of a submersible that took him down to 10,908 metres.
Submarine tours on radar for PNG
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he world watched with fascination when Hollywood director James Cameron made his 2012 solo dive to 10,908 metres below the ocean into the Mariana Trench, near Guam. Solo, Cameron piloted Deepsea Challenger to the deepest part of the ocean and chronicled the journey in a 3D movie. Now, there are similar goings-on in Papua New Guinea. On July 26, a Chinese-led expedition, Rainbow Fish Ocean Technology Co, is due to test a new manned submersible vehicle in the New Britain Trench off PNG. The 9149-metre trench lies between PNG and the Solomon Islands. If the test is successful, the Rainbow Fish will be taken to the Mariana Trench for a dive later this year, according to Cui Weicheng of Shanghai Ocean University. In conjunction with the University of Aberdeen, the University of Hawaii and the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Rainbow Fish submersible will ultimately probe the world’s 26 oceanic trenches beneath 6500 metres. A key part of the July tests is PNG’s Collins
Shipping. The company will ferry scientists and tourists in a parallel tourist operation, starting in Alotau and finishing in Lae. The tour will take in some of PNG’s tourist attractions such as the Dei Dei Hot Springs,
The tourists will take turns in the submersible, on a two-hour dive to 300 metres.
the Trobriand Islands and the remote Star Reefs. Along the way the tourist vessel will rendezvous with the Rainbow Fish vessel for dives to 300 metres. Managing director James Collins says if the July expedition goes well, a new style of adventure tourism will open up for people wanting to examine what lies beneath. The Collins brothers – Tony, John and James – have pedigree when it comes to business. They grew up on a coffee plantation in
Mount Hagen, but have also operated dive charters and provided support vessels for the mining industry. They’ve also worked in tourism, conducting charters. The tourists on the July trip will take turns doing a dive in the submersible, which will take the operator and two tourists under for two hours. “We are planning on doing the dives at a World War 2 shipwreck in the Star Reefs,” James says. “The tourists will be able to follow the wreck from the surface down to 45 metres and then follow the reef down into the depths. It’s a once-in-a lifetime experience, and only available to celebrities or the superwealthy at the moment,” he says. “Should that go well, we will upgrade our biggest ship, the Sepura, with cabins and ensuites for 28 people. We’re hoping we can run eight to 10, 12-night cruises a year.” And if this proves successful, the plan is to team with Rainbow Fish and offer tourist dives to the deepest parts of the oceans. Only three people have so far ventured to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. More people have stood on the moon. n — KEVIN McQUILLAN July – August 2016
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