The Open-Top Submarine

Divers can travel only as fast as they can swim, which often makes it difficult to do important ocean research–and look for buried treasure. Not so with the Mk. 1C, an electric submersible designed by Dutch company Ortega to take up to three divers (with their own breathing apparatuses) through the water at up to 9.2 m.p.h. Because it doesn’t have a pressurized chamber, it can’t dive nearly as deep as traditional submarines. But its open top enables passengers to hop out at will, and its speed creates what Ortega co-founder Filip Jonker calls “a total James Bond experience” in the water.