Deep, an ocean technology and exploration company based in Bristol, UK has announced its ambition for a permanent underwater base off the coast of Wales by 2027.

Scientists from Deep Research Labs have revealed plans to build a base over 200 metres below the surface, where researchers could live for up to 28 days at a time.

The company has named the modular underwater habitats Sentinel. Individual Sentinel modules are ‘modular, scalable, autonomous, recoverable, reconfigurable and redeployable’, meaning the size of the base can be scaled to the needs of a specific underwater project, with modules interconnected by a grid.

Deep Sentinel

At 17.5m by 6m across, Sentinel modules are said to be large enough for a crew of six. Sentinel will be globally classed by DNV, the world’s leading classification society for underwater technology.

It’s hoped the Deep base, once complete, can provide scientists extended access to the ‘epipelagic zone’, the deepest point at which sunlight penetrates the ocean, where 90 per cent of marine life is thought to be found.

Deep Sentinel

The first stage of the project is to transform the old National Dive & Activity Centre (NDAC) – a former limestone quarry in Gloucestershire that has been used as an inland dive site – into a training site called Deep Campus.

The 600-metre long, 80-metre-deep ex-NDAC site will allow training, testing and research to take part in a controlled environment. Deep says its campus will become a ‘core part of the regional ecosystem’, hosting essential development exercises for Deep and regional, national and international partners.

“We need to preserve the oceans. To do that, we need to understand them,” says Steve Etherton, president, EMEA of Deep. “The oceans sit at the centre of many of the generational challenges the world is facing, and they also offer opportunities we have not even begun to comprehend.

Sentinel

“Through our innovative technology, Deep will enable scientists to operate at depth for extended periods of time, and we hope, in some small way, will contribute to our understanding of this life-giving environment”.

Sean Wolpert, president of Americas at Deep adds: “Out of sight and out of mind — not having a better understanding of the oceans is no longer an option. Deep is coming out of stealth mode now as we need to take others on this journey. We are already talking to potential international partners, and others with a long-term view of the needs of the planet, who recognise that the up-side for humanity in preserving and husbanding the oceans is now too great to ignore.”

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