An aerospace engineer from Germany has set a new world record for the longest time living underwater. The engineer named Rudiger Koch, 59 was living underwater without depressurization since 120 days in a submerged capsule off the Panama coast. On Friday, he emerged out of the 30 sq metre (320 square foot) capsule which was Koch’s home for 120 days. Koch had beaten the previous record of American Joseph Dituri who lived for 100 days in an underwater lodge in Florida lagoon. He came out of the capsule in the presence of Guinness World Records Adjudicator Susana Reyes.

After leaving the capsule 11 meters under the sea, Koch said, “It was a great adventure and now it’s over there’s almost a sense of regret actually. I enjoyed my time here very much.”

About the view through the portholes, Koch had to say, “It’s beautiful when things calm down and it gets dark and the sea is glowing.” He added further, “It is impossible to describe. You have to experience that yourself.”

Koch celebrated with a toast of champagne and a cigar smoke before leaping into the Caribbean Sea. He was picked up by a boat that took him to a dry land where a celebratory party was arranged.

The capsule in which Koch lived all this while was equipped with all amenities of modern life- a bed, toilet, TV, computer, Internet and even an exercise bike. The electricity was generated by solar panels on the surface. There was a backup generator but no shower.

The capsule was placed at a 15- minute distance by boat fro0m the coast of Northern Panama. It was attached to another chamber rested above the waves by a tube that contained a narrow spiral staircase, which was a way down for food, visitors and the doctor.

When Koch was still halfway in achieving his endeavor, he had told to an AFP Journalist that he hoped that it would change the way we think about human life and where we can settle, even permanently. He said, “What we are trying to do here is prove that the seas are actually a viable environment for human expansion.”

Koch’s daily life and movements, his mental health and the proof of him not coming up to the surface was captured by four cameras installed inside the capsule.

Reyes had shared, “We needed witnesses who were monitoring and verifying 24/7 for more than 120 days. This record is undoubtedly one of the most extravagant, and required a lot of work.”