DEEPSEA CHALLENGER returns home to Sydney in brand-new Maritime Museum exhibition

The Australian National Maritime Museum is thrilled to become the temporary home of the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, the iconic submersible which took James Cameron to the deepest trenches of the ocean in 2012. It features within a brand-new exhibition, Ultimate Depth: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea, opening on December 19, 2024.

The DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, was designed, tested, and engineered in Sydney, was co-engineered by the renowned Ron Allum, a local Sydney cave diver, engineer, deep-sea explorer and former NSW Senior Australian of the Year. The Museum is honoured to have Ron Allum visit the exhibition for its launch to welcome the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER back to Sydney for the first time since its expedition to the Mariana Trench.

 

Ron Allum said, ‘The DEEPSEA CHALLENGER to me is a monument to engineering and science. I believe we came up with new methods of doing deep sea exploration that are now becoming commonplace in the industry. It was designed and built in Leichhardt…I’m glad to see it back.’The DEEPSEA CHALLENGER is just one of many incredible objects featuring in the Ultimate Depth: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea exhibition, which takes visitors on a journey from the ocean’s sunlit surface to its darkest depths, explore the five unique zones of the deep sea. It includes an extremely rare example of a black smoker hydrothermal vent – one of only a handful in the world.

Starting at the Sunlight zone and travelling through the Twilight zone, Midnight zone, Abyssal zone and then finally to the Hadal zone, this exhibition highlights the cutting-edge technologies which unveil the secrets of the deep and the extraordinary creatures that call it home.

Emily Jateff, Curator of Ocean Science and Technology said, ‘To protect and manage our one ocean, we must first understand it. This exhibition is a window into the ocean that is now. We showcase what lives and thrives in the ocean, how it works, and how scientists and explorers strive to understand its secrets so that we can sustainably protect and manage our one global ocean into the future.’

Ms Daryl Karp, Museum CEO and Director said, ‘The Museum is thrilled to be displaying the incredible DEEPSEA CHALLENGER as part of this exciting new exhibition that showcases deep-sea journeys and the unique worlds which exist beneath the ocean’s surface. We are proud to be displaying this extraordinary piece of technology that is significant not only to the history of deep-sea exploration, but also to Australian scientific endeavour.