DeepFlight Challenger point of each of the world's five oceans, the Mariana Trench of the Pacific Ocean (36,201 ft), the Puerto Rico Trench of the Atlantic Ocean (28,232 ft), the Diamantina Trench of the Indian Ocean (26,401 ft), South Sandwich Trench of the Southern Ocean (23,737 ft), and Molloy Deep of the Arctic Ocean (18,399 ft). The Cheyenne yacht will be used as the mothership for the dive efforts. It was planned that Branson would pilot the sub to the Puerto Rico Trench, while Chris Welsh would pilot it for the Mariana Trench dive. Virgin Oceanic had hoped to be the first
South Sandwich Trench 965 km long and has a maximum depth of 8,428 meters below sea level. This location, at 55°40'S, 025°55'W, is called Meteor Deep. It is 122 km northeast of Zavodovski Island. The southernmost portion of the South Sandwich Trench reaches south of 60°S and therefore into the Southern Ocean, thereby containing the maximum depth of that Ocean at 60°00'S, 024°W, with a depth of 7,235 meters. South Sandwich Trench The South Sandwich Trench is a deep arcuate trench in the South Atlantic Ocean lying 100 km to the east of the South Sandwich Islands. The trench is produced by the