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Virgin believes that the Oceans offer exciting possibilities for human exploration and scientific research.  Our vision through Virgin Oceanic is to explore the possibilities of enabling adventurers and pioneers to participate in oceanic exploration.
 
If we are successful in our mission with this innovative design of submarine, then we will have proven that a vehicle can be built to withstand the extreme pressures of the oceans and that it is possible to take humans at far reduced risks to the bottom of our Oceans. This submarine will likely finish its days on display in a museum but if we can prove the design, Virgin may explore the possibility of future missions involving other submarines that can collect samples and facilitate science and research. When we have evolved our capacity for exploration, we will unlock opportunities to discover vast areas of our planet that we currently have no knowledge of. This is our vision.

Virgin Oceanic’s Chief Pilot, Chris Welsh, upon meeting adventurer Steven Fossett, was greatly impressed by the sight of Fossett’s giant racing catamaran, the 125′ Cheyenne.

Chris was instantly captivated and set his sights on completing Steve’s mission to the deepest part of the planet. He also expanded the project from a single solo dive to the current goal of five oceans, five dives, exploring the deepest depths in each of the five oceans of the world.

What does that mean for the catamaran? Instead of just crossing the Pacific to Guam and coming back, she will likely be covering over 25,000 miles of open ocean over the next two years. So what would it be like to be out there?

A crane rises above the mid-point, standing by to lift the 3,600 kg (8,000 lb) sub off its rolling cradle, which can slide back out of the way, and lower the sub straight down into the water through a hole in the deck, also known as “the moon pool”.

Generators on board as well as power systems on the engines provide power to enable satellite navigation, lights, scientific equipment, music, and of course the communications systems that will allow us to send updates from the cat as it journeys around each of our planet’s oceans.