A rag-tag team of engineers, commercial divers and rev-heads have successfully driven a waterproof electric vehicle 7 kilometres under water across Darwin Harbour, in a stunt they claim has broken two world records.
The orange 1978 LandCruiser “Mudcrab” emerged from pitch-black water at Darwin’s Mindil Beach shortly before 9pm on Saturday night, nearly five hours later than originally planned.
Hundreds of spectators cheered the car on as it reached the shore, with one of the crew holding a barramundi victoriously in the air.
The team of 30 divers say they have now set the world record for the longest and deepest underwater drive at a depth of 30 meters.
But it was never going to be a cruisy ride.
Here’s how the day unfolded.
Car enthusiasts from across Australia have spent months fitting out the second-hand LandCruiser, transforming it from unroadworthy to seaworthy with a new, waterproof electric engine and 150 kilogram water-filled tyres.
The team aimed to surpass the journey of another group of Darwin lads, who in 1983 set the previous world record for the longest and deepest underwater drive when they attempted to cross the harbour in a LandCruiser.
That attempt had failed when the car hit a rock ledge and had to surface 3km in.
Around 9am on Saturday, the Mudcrab entered Darwin Harbour by its western side via the Mandorah Boat Ramp.
Mandorah is a 120km drive — or a 15 minute ferry — from Darwin.
The team only managed to take the Mudcrab out for one saltwater test drive, four days before the journey.
Shortly before the 12-hour journey began, a team of specialist four-wheel drive technicians was flown in from interstate to perform a last-minute fix on the car’s shackles.
But mechanical engineer Luke Purdy, one of the team members spearheading the project, remained confident the team would make it.
“Just got to act like another day in the office and get the job done,” he said.
The car was driven by a rotating team of 30 commercial divers from Darwin and across Australia who volunteered to lend a hand.
At 30 metres under water, the pressure is so severe that each diver-driver could only spend 15 minutes in the car before returning to the surface.
In the murky waters, the divers also had to contend with the possibility of curious saltwater crocodiles and local sharks coming past to check out the commotion.
Will Hanigan, who was part of the dive team, said it was all worth it for “the thrill of it”.
At about 1pm, around four hours into the journey, the crew had barely cleared the descent into the deep.
The silt, mud and sand covering the sea floor swallowed up the Mudcrab’s tyres several times on the way down, causing the car to be bogged.
The team had to use inflatable buoys, chained to the car, to lift it out of the mud each time.
It took two hours to lift the car over a gas pipeline, which set back the team’s estimated arrival time from 4pm to 5pm.
The sun set shortly after 6:30pm, but there was still no sign of the Mudcrab, making it clear the crew wasn’t going to reach the shore before nightfall.
At 7:45pm, the Mudcrab got bogged yet again, with only headlights to guide the way in the pitch black.
The team had two options: give up, or forge ahead.
Nearly 12 hours after the journey began, the Mudcrab emerged, with one enthusiastic spectator telling the team to “drive this thing straight to the pub”.
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