Not a MyNAP member yet? Register for a free account to start saving and receiving special member only perks. Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. In just a few short years, nearly three-quarters of a million people have already enjoyed this memorable experience.
The potential number of those who might do so is substantial, given the current demographics of the leisure industries. It is a market environment in which there may be a dramatic proliferation of tourist submersibles of different types, depths, and site locations during the next two decades.
During the year the committee worked on this study the number of tourist submersibles in the world increased from 16 to This figure includes those vessels currently operating and those under construction and soon to go into operation firm orders exist for five more. Seven operate under U. Coast Guard regulatory jurisdiction, though one is not a U. This is the largest number of tourist submersibles under a single national jurisdiction. With some extrapolation and adaptation of existing rules for surface vessels, the Coast Guard has certificated five submersibles.
However, it is not a routine process; these vessels are unusual in many ways. Given their mode of operation, the number of dive cycles for a given submarine is impressive perhaps 10 cycles per day on a regular basis. Other submersibles, used for research and military purposes, would not be subjected to in a lifetime as many cycles as these see in a year. They are constructed of materials not commonly used in research or military submarines, and employ larger area viewports.
Compared with research or work industrial submersibles, their passenger count is high, and the passengers are less knowledgeable of the environment and potential hazards. These considerations suggest a need for more comprehensive rules and standards for design, construction, and operation of tourist submersibles.
