Alemán achieves a record for living 120 days under the sea, in a space of 30 square meters, in Panama

The German Rüdiger Koch, 59 years oldThis Friday, January 24, he broke the Guinness record as the man who has spent the most time underwater without depressurization. after spending 120 days 11 meters deep in a habitat off the Caribbean coast of Panama.

Koch emerged from his capsule in the presence of Susana Reyes, Guinness World Records adjudicator.who confirmed the new title, previously held by the American Joseph Dituri, who spent 100 days in a submerged enclosure in a Florida lake.

“It has been a great adventure and now that it is over, I almost feel regret (for leaving), I have really enjoyed my stay here,” Koch told AFP minutes before leaving his confinement.

Koch, an aerospace engineer, entered his 30m2 room attached to a futuristic house built off the coast of Puerto Lindo, in Portobelo, on September 26.

120 Days Under the Sea

“It’s beautiful when things calm down, it gets dark and the sea shines, it’s impossible to describe, you have to experience it yourself”he expressed.

To celebrate, he toasted with champagne and smoked a cigar, before jumping into the sea of ​​Panama, where a boat picked him up and took him to the mainland to be entertained with a party.

The housing to which the capsule is attached is circular in shape and is mounted on a cylindrical structure. To enter you must climb a hanging ladder or a freight elevator.

Once inside, a narrow spiral staircase descends through the cylinder to the submerged cabin where Koch was located.

From the circular windows of his capsule, Koch saw fish. It had a portable toilet, bed, television, computer, exercise bike, fans, a small electric generator, and satellite internet.

Two large digital clocks marked the times and four cameras monitored him to confirm that he did not leave the place. There he received food from outside and was visited by a doctor and several family members.

“We need witnesses who were monitoring and verifying 24-7 for more than 120 days and this verification was one of the great challenges that this record had”Reyes told AFP. This record “is certainly one of the most extravagant” and required “quite a bit of work,” he added.

Koch, an admirer of Captain Nemo, was also accompanied in his confinement by a copy of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, the classic work of the 19th century French novelist, Jules Verne.