Antipodes (submarine)

Antipodes (Perry / Hoffmann / Marlin / SAL) is a submarine originally called the PC15, built by Perry Submarine in 1973. The sub was utilized for diver lock-out operations in the oil fields of the North Sea.

After her career in this field, the submarine was retrofitted by Deep Sea Adventures to have 58" in diameter, hemi-spherical domes at each end of the hull. The refit, which started in '94 and ended in '95, also added new soft tanks, a variable ballast system and exostructure.

At this time, Antipodes was bought by a Russian billionaire who, between 1996-1999 operated the sub aboard the 150 ft yacht, "Mystere", for leisure.

In 2000, Antipodes was purchased by Submarine Adventures, who moved the sub to Milford Sound, New Zealand. It was renamed to Antipodes at this time and operated as a tourism sub until 2004. There, Antipodes took thousands of tourists to the bottom of the fjord Milford Sound, reaching depths of 930 ft.

Current operation
In 2009, Antipodes was purchased by OceanGate LLC, a submarine operating company. OceanGate offers Antipodes for a number of commercial purposes such as research work, charters, and as a deep water filming platform. OceanGate also makes Antipodes available to oceans-focused nonprofit organizations that share or complement the mission of the OceanGate Foundation.