This crazy project will enable us to live underwater before 2027

The aim of this project is to develop technologies that will enable a permanent human presence to be established under the oceans from 2027. Who hasn't dreamed of living underwater? Having made all the most hostile places on the planet habitable, futuristic concepts and ideologies are now turning to the seabed.

The second life of a former diving center

At least, that's the plan of DEEP, a British company specializing in ocean technology and exploration. The research project is very simple, but costly: to invest £100 million in the former National Diving and Activity Centre (NDAC) in Tidenham, Gloucestershire, England, in order to convert it into a research center to develop technologies for living underwater. The aim? To make human life underwater permanently and sustainably liveable, and turn the 50-acre site into a fully-fledged 'campus' by 2027.

It offers a unique combination of expertise in marine engineering, diving, hyperbarics and submersibles. It also has 'links with the UK's commercial and technical diving industry', explains Steve Etherton, the company's chairman. After its closure due to heavy periods of inactivity caused by Covid, a second life awaits this center, once appreciated by diving enthusiasts and for military training.

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A project with environmental and economic objectives

Initially, the idea was to develop these technologies so that scientists would be able to live underwater at depths of up to 200 m for 28 days at a time. And 200 meters is no random measurement: it's the lower limit of the epipelagic zone, the deepest point where sunlight penetrates the ocean. It is estimated that 90% of marine life is found in this zone. Steve Etherton explains:

Thanks to its innovative technology, DEEP will enable scientists to operate at depth for long periods and we hope that, in one way or another, it will contribute to our understanding of this life-supporting environment.

Indeed, global warming is having devastating effects on the world's oceans: their upper reaches are warming some 24% faster than a few decades ago, and this rate is set to increase in the future. This warming is having an enormous impact not only on marine flora and fauna, but also on the intensity of storms, rising sea levels and, consequently, flooding. Sean Wolper, the president of DEEP for America, said:

As we look at themes around the emerging new blue/ocean economy, we hear about opportunities and solutions in pharmaceutical research, carbon capture and innovative medicines. It's about how we can cooperate and start working with the oceans for generations to come.

In his opinion, the benefits to mankind and to the preservation and maintenance of the oceans that would result from this project are 'too great to ignore'.

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This article has been translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used:

DEEP: Enabling a permanent human presence under the oceans from 2027

Divernet: Deep inland dive-site NDAC closes

BBC News: Underwater living: Deep dive site to become £100m research hub

The Business Magazine: Former Forest of Dean Diving Centre revealed as home for revolutionary human submersibles research

National Geographic: Tout comprendre sur : le réchauffement des océans

IFLScience: Startup Wants To Make "Permanent Human Presence" Undersea This Decade