A German aerospace engineer has made history as he spent 120 days underwater.
Fifty-nine-year-old Rudiger Koch emerged from his 30-square-meter underwater home as Guinness World Records adjudicator Susana Reyes confirmed he had broken the previous 100-day record set by American Joseph Dituri in a Florida lagoon.
Koch is a co-founder of Ocean Builders, the company that designed and built the underwater room where he spent four months observing fish. Based in Panama City, Ocean Builders creates solar-powered SeaPods that float 3 meters above the ocean and can also support an additional pod underwater.
Koch told reporters that his 120-day underwater experience was a great adventure and admitted feeling a sense of regret that it had come to an end.
He highlighted the tranquil beauty of the glowing sea at night as one of the most memorable aspects of his journey, while he also managed to capture over 1,000 hours of marine life footage through the porthole.
Koch’s capsule was equipped with modern essentials, including a bed, toilet, TV, computer, internet, and an exercise bike. Situated about 15 minutes by boat from northern Panama’s coast, the capsule was connected to another chamber above the waves by a tube with a narrow spiral staircase, allowing for food deliveries and visits, including from a doctor.
Solar panels on the surface supplied electricity, with a backup generator available, though there was no shower.
The German engineer marked the occasion by sipping champagne and smoking a cigar before diving into the Caribbean Sea, where he was picked up by a boat and taken to dry land for a celebratory party.
“It is impossible to describe, you have to experience that yourself,” Koch tried to describe the experience with these words.
Halfway through his mission, Koch told an AFP journalist that he hoped the experience would shift our perspective on human life and the potential for permanent settlements, even in such extreme environments.
The German also kept a copy of Jules Verne’s 19th-century sci-fi classic “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” on his bedside table beneath the waves, inspired by his admiration for Captain Nemo.
Additionally, four cameras recorded Koch’s activities in the capsule, documenting his daily life, monitoring his mental health, and verifying that he never surfaced.