Seafaring Super-Rich Dive to Ocean Bottom in Luxury Submarines

[donsu]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601093&refer=home&sid=a9s.rOyb3IaU

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Luxury-submarine makers and salesmen from the Pacific Ocean to the Persian Gulf say fantasy and secrecy are the foundations of this nautical niche industry built on madcap multibillionaires.

``Everyone down there is a wealthy eccentric,'' says Jean- Claude Carme, vice president of marketing for U.S. Submarines Inc., a Portland, Oregon-based bespoke submarine builder. ``They're all intensely secretive.''

Who owns the estimated 100 luxury subs carousing the Seven Seas mostly remains a mystery.

Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft Corp., warned his boat builder that loose lips sink ships.


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``If I told you, I'd have to shoot you,'' says Bruce Jones, president and founder of U.S. Submarines, about the names in his client book.

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``This is a nasty cut-throat business,'' Jones says.

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``Luxury submarines are the future vision for Tahiti,'' Temaru says. ``We call it our life-saving plan. Developing a luxury-submarine market and the tourism that would come from it is on target with visitors enjoying our beaches and marine life.''

As for that marine life, the local dolphin population can be a problem for some submariners.

Jaubert says he has clients who wrestle with how to conduct a deep-sea love affair in front of an observation window without creating an underwater paparazzi.

``Dolphins are easily excited when they sense people making love,'' Jones says. ``They get jealous and bang their noses against the window.''

The best solution? Curtains, says Jones.
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why the secrets?