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Years ago while
in grad school for Marine Affairs (policy and management) and tourist subs were
a hot number, did a study of how big the market was. Conclusion it is a
very small market and there were only a handful of sites around the world
suitable for conducting tourist sub ops. A successful sub depends on a
high tourist through-put, a high passenger loading factor (how many seats of
full capacity are filled), a high seating capacity (numbers showed that a
15-passenger tourist sub would have a hard time covering costs), and a heavy
operational schedule (multiple trips per day and most the days of a year).
This was proved out a short time later by the high number of boats going out of
business and orders for new subs being canceled. If you read
Busby’s commentaries, his book was an effort to document all of the subs
in the heyday of submersible building. The late 60s saw a ton of units
built in the expectation of a burgeoning undersea lifestyle. He
recognized this wasn’t happening and it was turning into a bust market so
he collected all of the designs he could and documented them in his book.
Very few subs in his book were around long. Much like
diving, submersibles are a tool to meet an end. Unless you have a
specific function for the sub, most get laid up after a short time. Most
PSUBbers are in it for the challenge, comradery, and knowledge gained along the
way. It takes a lot of work to make a dive in a submersible, you just don’t
go out for a joyride and sightseeing as you can in a small power boat. Prior
to a sub outing you have to get HP air and charge the batteries, have to
perform a thorough systems check prior to and after launch (it is amazing the
things that can come loose towing a sub on a trailer), it is a major operation
to launch the sub (how many are kept in slips?), then it has to be slowly towed
out to a dive site (few have something that is really interesting to see or
close to a launch site), a tow back to shore, a haul out, and the trip home
where the sub has to be cleaned up and washed down. This is a MAJOR
evolution for the average guy (haven’t seen any women PSUB members, subs
have to be a guy thing)! There just isn’t a great big market out
there that can sustain regular production. BUT WE LOVE OUR
SUBS! R/Jay Respectfully, Jay K. Jeffries Andros Is., It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to
entertain a thought without accepting it. From: In my
observations regarding money making tourist sub operations. It appears to me
that the location is the necessary ingredient to a successful operation, not
the sub itself so much. You need a constant flow of "willing" traffic. Take Karl
Stanley in Same
thing in the Caymans and Joe |