Ship&Offshore | Issue 02/2014
Exploration of the deepest part of the world’s oceans
DEEPSEA CHALLENGER The Deepsea Challenger is the second manned deep-sea submersible to have reached the deepest part of the world’s oceans: the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. One of the expedition’s aims was to gain valuable knowledge for the exploitation of marine commodities. In the following article, Phil Durbin, managing director of the Australia-based engineering design and analysis consultancy Finite Elements, and Michele Durbin, the company’s business director, give insight into the challenges of constructing the capsule’s main structural elements.