Billionaire Richard Branson was in Newport Beach Tuesday to unveil plans for his latest adventure: exploring the depths of the world’s oceans.
Branson, chairman of Britain’s Virgin Group Ltd., announced plans for a single-seater submarine that he and Newport Beach businessman Chris Welsh plan to alternately pilot on a series of voyages starting later this year.
The plans were announced at Newport Harbor Yacht Club.
The goal is for the submarine, dubbed the Virgin Oceanic, to reach the deepest points in each of the world’s five oceans in the next two years.
Welsh is set to pilot the first voyage into the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, the deepest among the five oceans at 36,201 feet.
Branson is set to pilot the next dive into the Atlantic’s Puerto Rico trench at 28,232 feet.
Welsh is a real estate investor, yacht racer and budding underwater adventurer. He applied to bring a deep-sea submarine into Newport harbor earlier this year, according to the Daily Pilot.
The idea for exploring the depths of the oceans is Welsh’s. He approached Branson as a financial backer and has been assembling a team of scientists, engineers and filmmakers, according to the Pilot.
Branson is known for past adventures, including trying to circumnavigate the globe in a balloon. He hopes to break some 30 Guinness World records with the submarine missions.
Last year, Branson unveiled a three-person submarine called the Necker Nymph, which is available for $2,500 a day for guests of his private resort in the Caribbean.
He’s also has pushed into space tourism with a $200 million facility in New Mexico for suborbital flights due this summer.
Branson’s London-based Virgin Group is a diversified company that owns a majority of Virgin Atlantic Airways and other travel businesses and operates beverage, financial and telecommunications companies.
The company has yearly revenue of $18 billion.
