A new tourist submersible capable of reaching depths of 1,000 metres could begin commercial operations by 2030, according to the South China Morning Post. What’s more, a prototype could be ready before the end of 2026, if its Chinese engineers keep to the timeline.
The vessel, in development at the China Ship Scientific Research Centre in Wuxi, will be able to carry four passengers per trip. Tickets for adventures into the deep, where few humans have ever been, can reach into the thousands of dollars, appealing to a similarly high-end adventure tourism market as space, where short trips beyond fabled boundaries such as the Kármán Line have become a status symbol.
China's three deep-sea manned submersibles — Fendouzhe (Striver), Shenhai Yongshi (Deep Sea Warrior), and Jiaolong — have completed 1,746 dives to date, the Chinese Academy of Sciences said on Wednesday, noting the trio is set to complete 314 dives this year alone. pic.twitter.com/VdQIaTNx1r
— People's Daily, China (@PDChina) December 25, 2025
Research centre director, Ye Cong, told China Daily that interest in the new submersible was already running high among destination managers and tour agencies. He described the model as a potentially “valuable asset for cruise lines, high-end tourism operators and oceanographic researchers,” adding that it “will offer discerning travellers an unforgettable experience in ocean exploration.”
Nonetheless, safety will be a key concern, especially following the well-publicised, deadly fate that met the Titan tourist submersible in 2023 off the coast of Canada on an expedition to see the wreck of the Titanic. Vessels intended to reach the so-called marine “Midnight Zone,” between 1,000 and 4,000 metres deep, need to be able to protect passengers from extremely low temperatures and resist 100 times more atmospheric pressure than at the sea’s surface. The integrity of windows, a vital component allowing tourists and scientists alike to take in their surroundings, is particularly problematic.
But, during his China Daily interview, Ye Cong reported that the Chinese team have already solved that issue through the development of a transparent hull that offers a 360-degree vista. “After more than four years of research, engineers have finalized the structural design,” he said, adding that sea trials and further iterations will follow.
The submersible is set to become a competitor to established brands like Florida’s Triton and the Netherlands’ U-Boat Worx, but China is not a newbie to the sector. Confidence in the project stems from previous national form in the shape of dozens of submersibles for leisure use—albeit at shallower depths of around 20 metres in reservoirs, lakes and coastal waters. And those are as nothing to the country’s three manned deep-sea submersibles, such as record-breakers Jiaolong and Deep Sea Warrior, that carried out over 300 dives worldwide in 2025, making up over half of global deep-sea operations.
