OceanGate Announces Acquisition of Antipodes Research Submarine

Privately-Owned Sub is Capable of Taking Five People to Depths of 1,000 Feet

Everett, Washington - January 15, 2010 - OceanGate, an Everett-based venture organizing deep ocean science-based expeditions, announced today that it has completed its acquisition of Antipodes, a fully-equipped research submarine that will give scientists and paying clients a chance to explore the vast underwater world. The 7-ton sub's unique capabilities allows it to carry 5 people to a depth of 1,000 feet and afford them unparalleled views through twin 58" acrylic hemi-spherical domes in the fore and aft of the vessel. OceanGate will utilize the sub primarily for scientific research while also making it available through charters and leases to filmmakers, yacht owners, resorts, tour operators, explorers, non-profit organizations, and government agencies.

"We founded OceanGate with a firm commitment to expanding humanity's limited understanding of our ocean planet, and we knew that we needed a unique vessel upon which to build our expeditions," explained Guillermo Söhnlein, co-founder of OceanGate. "After an extensive global search, we determined that Antipodes was by far the best match of capabilities for our mission, so we are very proud to give her a new home and offer her to the research community."

First built in 1973 as a diver lock-out sub by Perry Submarine, the PC-1501 spent several years operating in the North Sea oil fields. Rebuilt in 1995 and renamed XPC15, it was installed and operated around the world aboard the Mystere, a 200-foot yacht. It was further modified in 2001 and renamed Antipodes* by Submarine Adventures, which successfully operated the sub in Milford Sound, New Zealand, where it took thousands of tourists on dives to depths of 1,000 feet. As the first manned research submarine to operate regularly in the Puget Sound, it will provide underwater access for leading oceanographers, marine biologists, archaeologists, and other researchers from local universities.

The Puget Sound basin, covering 16,000 square miles of land and water, is an estuarine system that was cut by glaciers thousands of years ago. Puget Sound, with an average depth of 450 feet and a maximum depth of 930 feet, contains a diverse variety of marine life. From the invertebrates of the rocky shores to the sharks of the deep valleys, the waters of Puget Sound are teaming with life. Puget Sound provides an important habitat for salmon, which support the Southern Resident Community of Orcas and many other marine and terrestrial mammals. Heavy ship commerce, rocky shores, and violent storms have ensured Puget Sound to be the final resting place for many ships. Scientists from around the world come to Puget Sound to explore the biology, geology, oceanography, and archaeology that make this area so fascinating.

Antipodes is certified by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and has proven itself as a safe and effective vessel over the course of over 1,200 dives in a variety of sea conditions. While typical mission profiles will call for dives of 2-8 hours in duration, it can support five people for up to 72 hours. It has pollution-free battery-powered motors that allow for smooth maneuverability similar to that of a helicopter while taking passengers to depths ten times that of a typical recreational SCUBA diver.

OceanGate's "citizen scientist" approach to research-based expeditions allows members of the general public to learn about the ocean environment, train on leading-edge underwater technologies, and participate in ground-breaking scientific research. Plans for 2010 include expeditions to the San Juan Islands and other regions of the Puget Sound, with national and then global expansion beginning in 2011.

* From Wikipedia: The "antipodes" [an-tip-uh-deez] of any place on the Earth is the place that is diametrically opposite it, so a line drawn from the one to the other passes through the center of the Earth and forms a true diameter. The antipodes of any place on Earth are distant from it by 180° of longitude and as many degrees to the north of the equator as the original is to the south (or vice versa). Around 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by oceans and seven-eighths of the Earth's land is confined to the land hemisphere, so the majority of locations on land do not have land-based antipodes.

For more information on Antipodes, please visit www.opentheoceans.com/technology.htm.

About OceanGate

OceanGate organizes “citizen scientist” expeditions to provide highly subsidized underwater technology platforms to university-based deep ocean researchers. Their goal is to create a mechanism that enables scientists to study the 95% of the world’s oceans that remain unexplored. They are deeply committed to furthering humanity’s understanding of the ocean environment while also providing unique and fulfilling experiences for expedition clients. For more information, please visit www.opentheoceans.com.