A copy of Jules Verne's classic novel 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea' rests on the work desk of German aerospace engineer Rudiger Koch, 59, inside an underwater room off the coast of Puerto Lindo, Panama, on November 26, 2024. — AFP
Setting a world record might seem easier in other ways, but Rudiger Koch has chosen his path 11 meters (36 feet) beneath the sea. For the past two months, he has been living in a submerged capsule off the coast of Panama, with approximately two more months to go, as he informed a visiting AFP journalist. 'The last time I checked, I was still married,' he quipped, as fish swam through the bright blue Caribbean waters outside the portholes. However, Koch, a 59-year-old aerospace engineer from Germany, has loftier ambitions than merely breaking a record. He believes his endeavor could revolutionize how we perceive human life—and where we can settle, even permanently. 'Moving out to the ocean is something we should do as a species,' he told AFP. 'What we are trying to prove here is that the seas are actually a viable environment for human expansion.'
Koch's 30-square-meter (320-square-foot) capsule is equipped with most modern conveniences: a bed, toilet, TV, computer, internet, and even an exercise bike. The only thing missing? A shower. His underwater home is connected via a vertical tube to another chamber above the waves, housing his team members and serving as a conduit for food and curious journalists. The underwater chamber also acts as a shelter for fish and an artificial reef, offering environmental benefits. 'In the night, you can hear all the crustaceans,' he said. 'There's the fish out there, and there's all that stuff, and that wasn't here before we came.'
On a small bedside table lies Jules Verne's 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,' a 19th-century sci-fi classic. Inspired by the novel's Captain Nemo, Koch, who descended on September 26, aims to resurface on January 24, surpassing by 20 days the record held by American Joseph Dituri, who spent 100 days submerged in a Florida lake. Two clocks in the capsule track the elapsed and remaining time. A narrow spiral staircase leads to the chamber above, with the entire structure located about 15 minutes by boat from the Puerto Lindo coast, off northern Panama. Four cameras monitor Koch's movements in the capsule, documenting his daily life, assessing his mental health, and ensuring he never surfaces.
Eial Berja, an Israeli, operates the cameras from the above section, managing the electricity and backup generator. 'It's not all smooth sailing,' he told AFP, recalling a severe storm that nearly halted the project. Apart from media visits, Koch's only guests have been his doctor, children, and wife. Grant Romundt, from Canada, supports the project. Both he and Koch share grand visions linked to the libertarian—and sometimes controversial—'seasteading' movement, which envisions ocean-based communities beyond government control. Despite the long journey ahead, Koch knows exactly what he'll do first upon returning to land: 'a shower, a real shower.'
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