An aerospace engineer has just spent 120 days not in the air, nor in space—but underwater.
On Friday, Rudiger Koch ended his 120th day in a capsule submerged in the Caribbean, setting an official Guinness World Record for spending the longest amount of time underwater without depressurization. His aim was to prove that oceans are feasible habitats for future human expansion, as reported by AFP.
“It was a great adventure and now it’s over there’s almost a sense of regret actually. I enjoyed my time here very much,” the 59-year-old man from Germany told AFP. “It is beautiful when things calm down and it gets dark and the sea is glowing.” He celebrated the victory with champagne, a cigar, and a swim.
🌊 Day 120! Mission Accomplished! 🎉
The Living Underwater Challenge is complete! Thank you for being part of this journey in showcasing the future of ocean habitation. 🌍💙
📢 Join us LIVE on IG today for the Award Ceremony!
🕐 1:15 PM EST
🔗 IG Link: https://t.co/hVS9s6NNfn pic.twitter.com/9m8lWW5V5S— Ocean Builders (@OceanBuilders) January 24, 2025
Koch spent about four months in a 322.9-square-foot (30-square-meter) capsule 36 feet (11 meters) below the surface of the water off the coast of Panama. Constructed by Ocean Builders—a company co-founded by Koch that’s working on sustainable ocean living—the capsule had a bed, toilet, internet, electricity, TV, and an exercise bike. It didn’t, however, have a shower (which makes his celebratory dive on Friday all the more understandable) and limited access to fresh water.
“It’s like waking up from a dream. I was in a magic dreamland,” he said, as reported by The Times.
The underwater capsule was linked to an above-water pod by a tube containing a spiral staircase. The stairs were just for visitors, however, such as a doctor, or family and friends bringing supplies. In fact, the capsule was equipped with four cameras to verify that Koch never emerged, according to AFP.
“We needed witnesses who were monitoring and verifying 24/7 for more than 120 days,” Susana Reyes, the Guinness World Records adjudicator who confirmed the new world record, told AFP. The previous record holder was Joseph Dituri, an American man who lived in an underwater Florida lodge for 100 days.
The point of Koch’s sojourn under the sea was to demonstrate the potential for sustainable aquatic human expansion.
“Moving out to the ocean is something we should do, that would be actually a contribution to restore things like reefs,” he told CBS two months into the adventure, though he didn’t expand on how Ocean Builder’s capsules could contribute to that environmental vision.
“Our technology will allow civilization to move onto the sea and it will unlock the ocean as a new frontier with a quality of life that is unbeatable anywhere else,” according to the Ocean Builder website. “We believe that by learning to live on the water we will open a new wave of eco-sustainable innovation that will lead to living more sustainably on land.”
It remains to be seen how or if the experience impacted Koch’s health—and who else, in the future, might be interested in living 36 feet below water.
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