Luxury tourist and research submarine being developed in Croatia 

(Image: Brodosplit)

The development of a multi-purpose luxury tourist and research submarine continues in Croatia. 

The goal of this project is to research and develop a multi-purpose tourist and research submarine with electric drive for accommodation of up to 50 people, operational diving depth of up to 50 m, said one of the project partners, Croatian shipyard Brodosplit.

“The purpose of the project is to research and develop a functional innovative product, a multipurpose submarine, the placement and commercialization of that product on the world market with the purpose of strengthening the market position of the shipyard of special facilities based on submarine construction technology, and the restoration of the long-acquired knowledge of designing and building submarines that was lost in the last 25 years,” Brodosplit said.

(Image: Brodosplit)

The submarine will be used for a number of purposes, including for underwater tourist sightseeing tours and for providing opportunities for underwater research. 

“The submarine will be able to be easily adapted to the needs of archeological, geological, mareological and biological research with the purpose of scientific and applied research of the undersea for larger groups of researchers. The research activities of the submarine, depending on the need, can be carried out either as observation or for the purpose of collecting data and samples using built-in devices and sensors,” Brodosplit added.

(Image: Brodosplit)

Model tests were recently carried out in the pools of the Brodarski institut-Jadranbrod (Maritime Institute) in the capital Zagreb and were carried out under the supervision of the project partner, Marine and Energy Solutions DIV d.o.o., also the company that designed the submarine, and with the presence of the academic project partner of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. 

The project holder is SHIPYARD OF SPECIAL FACILITIES Ltd., and the other partners in the project are; Marine and Energy Solutions DIV Ltd., BRODOSPLIT, joint-stock company, DIV GROUP Ltd. and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Zagreb. 

(Image: Brodosplit)

Work on the project began in July 2020 and the project is founded by the European Union under the Operational Programme Competitiveness and cohesion, through the Call of ‘Increasing the development of new products and services arising from research and development activities (IRI) – phase II.“