First-ever crewed dive into Atacama Trench
Caladan Oceanic conducted the first-ever crewed dive to the deepest point of the Atacama Trench (Peru-Chile), the deepest trench in the southeastern Pacific. The maximum depth recorded at the Atacama Trench's lowest point was 8,069m.
On 21 January 2022, two men dived the first-ever crewed dive to the deepest point of the Atacama Trench, the deepest trench in the southÂeastern Pacific.
This feat saw explorer Victor Vescovo, Founder of Caladan Oceanic, and Osvaldo Ulloa from the Millennium Institute of Oceanography (IMO) deÂscending to 8,069m below sea level, in the submersible Limiting Factor. This dive was the first in the Chilean leg of the Ring of Fire Pt 2 (2022) expedition.
Vescovo described the experiÂence as a great privilege to pilot the first human descent to the bottom of the Atacama Trench with Dr Ulloa: âBeing able to glide along the seafloor
for three hours, personally investigating interesting points with someone who has studied the area for much of their career, was just fantastic.â
âTogether, we witnessed some amazÂing evidence of what appears to be more examples of chemosynthesis in the worldâs deep ocean trenches. Here, however, we saw long bacterial tendrils coming off of rock faces that never see any sunlight, and obtain their energy from the minerals and gases seeping from the rocks, surrounded by a freezing seawater enviÂronment. Just extraordiÂnary,â he added.
The expeditionâs objective was to conduct extensive bathymetric mapÂping of the seafloor in the exploration area and to collect samples at variÂous depths of the trench. By mapping the seafloor, it would be possible to determine where to install sensors for IMOâs future IDOOS (Integrated Deep Ocean Observing System) project.
This project would establish the first observation system anchored in the deep ocean along Chileâs coast to study the structure and temporal variability of the areaâs physical geoÂchemical and biological conditions.
Subsequent missions include warship search expeditions to the Midway and Samar oceanic battlefields, the first-ever human-occupied dives to the bottom of the Yap and PaÂlau trenches, a scientific dive to the deepest point of the ocean, ChalÂlenger Deep, as well as dives to the Manila, Ryukyu, Izu-Ogasawara, JaÂpan and Kuril-Kamchatka trenches in cooperation with key scientists from the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC).
However, first things first.
Since March 2022, according to VesÂcovo's Twitter feed, both the expediÂtion ship Pressure Drop and the LimitÂing Factor submersible have been undergoing refit and maintenance to prepare them for these upcoming missions. The expedition is expected to resume in April.
About Caladan Oceanic
Caladan Oceanic is a private comÂpany dedicated to the advancement of undersea technology and supportÂing expeditions to increase the unÂderstanding of the oceans. Founder Victor Vescovo, a former Commander in the US Navy, has long had a pasÂsion for exploration and has summited the highest peak on all seven of the worldâs continents including Mount Everest, and skied at least 100km to both the North and South Poles.