The Alucia looks like a yacht, when viewed from Lake Union's western shore.
Take a walk along the western shore of Seattle's Lake Union, and there you’ll see the 183-foot Alucia, a vessel that looks to Northwest eyes like a cross between a yacht and a very clean fish trawler, but isn’t.
Instead, the Alucia is owned by Deep Oceans Expeditions LLC., a company that takes well-heeled passengers deep underwater....like 12,500 feet down to see the wreck of the Titanic.
That trip costs $30,000 for each person.
If you're interested you should take a look at the vessel soon, because the Alucia will be leaving Lake Union "in a day or two," according to Expedition Leader Rob McCallum, in a a very limited exchange of emails on May 4.
Alucia herself won’t be taking passengers to the Titanic, because her three submersibles, a type of submarine, only go to 3,280 feet.
Originally built and operated as the research vessel Nadir, by the French government, Alucia was in 2009 converted in Seattle into her present form, according to Deep Oceans' website.
In the process, she was outfitted with a yacht-like interior, for wealthy clients. She also has storage space for her submersibles, and a large crane to launch them.
Viewed from the outside, the vessel looks spotless, more like a yacht than a research vessel.
What's next on Alucia's itinerary? McCallum was taciturn about that, also.
"I'm afraid we cannot discuss her mission at this time," he said in an email.
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