James Bond memorably escaped beneath the waves aboard his customized Lotus Esprit in the 1977 film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’.
But an incredible new submarine in the shape of a UFO is beyond the capabilities of even MI6’s Q department.
The Triton 660 AVA has a large transparent ‘bubble’-like window that makes passengers feel at one with the depths of the ocean.
As you dive up to 200 meters below the water’s surface, you can enjoy dinner, share a bottle of champagne or even get married.
However, with an eye-watering purchase price of $6.3 million (£5 million), the 660 AVA doesn’t come cheap.
Triton says the sub can be quickly reconfigured between dives and can provide a variety of diving activities, including dinner or cocktail dives, spa treatments or even undersea gaming experiences
The Triton 660/9 AVA has been launched as the ultimate ship for deep-sea sightseeing, according to maker Triton
The submarine was made by Florida-based company Triton, perhaps best known for making the DSV Limiting Factor, a deep-sea submarine that collided with the wreck of the RMS Titanic in 2019.
The company says on its website that its new 660 AVA offers “entertainment-focused underwater experiences.”
The sub can be quickly reconfigured between dives and can provide a variety of diving activities including dining or cocktail dives, spa treatments, undersea gaming experiences or even weddings.
It describes the sub as ‘the most intimate place in the world to tie the knot’.
“Operators can take advantage of this space to deliver never-before-possible experiences that will surprise and delight discerning guests, even if they are not sailing near a prime dive site,” it says.
“These unique, expansive spaces give you significant flexibility to curate experiences heretofore unimaginable in a submarine, from cocktails and casinos to weddings and private dinners.”
The intimate space features comfortable leather seating and even built-in mood lighting and a surround-sound audio system, so guests can enjoy music to match the deep sea.
According to Triton, the submarine’s expansive window uses a patent-pending blend of acrylic, allowing for strong yet “transparent hulls in new and irregular geometries.”
It is specially designed for the cruise and hospitality sectors, with the ability to dive 200 meters below the surface
The craft has echoes of James Bond’s sea-diving Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, above, also known as Wet Nellie (pictured)
According to Triton, the submarine’s expansive window uses a patent-pending blend of acrylic, allowing for strong yet “transparent hulls in new and irregular geometries.”
“A Triton AVA submarine typically offers two to three times the usable volume of traditional spherical hulls – space that can be used to create amazing experiences,” the company adds.
Triton 660 AVA also comes with a new and improved controller to control the sub called the Hammerhead.
The Hammerhead works together with the cockpit and allows the submersible to be controlled wirelessly from any seat in the cabin.
So the pilot can move around the submarine while still operating it, or even hand over control of the submarine to a guest.
If this sounds too similar to the custom PlayStation controller used to navigate the doomed Titan last June, everything about Triton’s new vehicle has apparently been designed with safety in mind.
A spokesperson said each 660 AVA submersible consists of thousands of constituent components, each of which is assessed and tested to ensure it meets the requirements for third-party certification.
Florida-based Triton says its vessel is specifically designed for the cruise and hospitality industries
The Triton DSV Limiting Factor of Florida-based company Triton Submarines, which collided with the breach in the starboard hull of the Titanic wreck
The privately owned submarine Titan, made and operated by another American company called OceanGate, suffered a ‘catastrophic implosion’ en route to the wreck of the RMS Titanic.
The five men on board were killed instantly, including Stockton Rush, CEO of OceanGate, who had described a deep-sea voyage aboard Titan as “safer than crossing the strait.”
Titanic director James Cameron, known for his own deep-sea exploration missions, has said Titan had “three potential failure points” and indicated its “Achilles heel” was its carbon fiber hull.