Draft:Rüdiger Koch
German aerospace engineer (born 1965)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rüdiger Koch (born 1965) is a German aerospace engineer and entrepreneur. He is the president and main engineer of Ocean Builders, a company specializing in sustainable floating homes and marine-based living solutions.
In January 2025, Koch gained international recognition by setting a Guinness World Record for the longest continuous stay in an underwater fixed habitat, spending 120 days in the Alpha Deep underwater room, part of a SeaPod floating home off the coast of Panama.[1]
Early life
Born in Germany in 1965, Rüdiger Koch pursued a career in aerospace engineering. His expertise in marine engineering and ocean-based innovation has been central to his professional achievements.[2]
Career
President and main engineer at Ocean Builders
Koch serves as the president and main engineer at Ocean Builders, a company pioneering the development of floating homes and ocean-based living solutions.[3]
Involvement with MS Satoshi
In 2020, Rüdiger Koch and his partners acquired the 245-meter cruise ship Pacific Dawn for $9.5 million, with the ambitious vision of converting it into a floating community for digital nomads, startup founders, and early Bitcoin adopters. They renamed the ship MS Satoshi and envisioned it as a self-sustaining, crypto-friendly society on the water, allowing residents to live and work in an offshore, decentralized ecosystem.[4]
Koch and his team worked on retrofitting the vessel to accommodate residential and business spaces, aiming to transform it into a floating innovation hub. However, regulatory challenges made long-term operations unfeasible. The ship was eventually sold for $12 million, exceeding its initial purchase price of $9.5 million.[4]
Guinness World Record for underwater living
On September 26, 2024, Koch embarked on a 120-day underwater residence in a 30-square-meter capsule, known as the Alpha Deep underwater room, part of the SeaPod DeepWater model. The structure, located 11 meters below the Caribbean Sea near Puerto Lindo, Panama.[2] It was equipped with essential amenities, including a bed, television, computer, exercise bike, and internet access, but notably lacked shower facilities.[5]
The record-breaking attempt aimed to showcase the potential of underwater and floating structures as viable environments for human habitation and sustainable living, offering innovative alternatives to traditional real estate.[6]
Koch’s project garnered global media attention and was officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest continuous stay in an underwater fixed habitat.[7]