Rob McCallum

Rob McCallum (born 16 June 1965) is a New Zealand explorer and expedition leader. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and a Fellow of The Explorers Club, for which he has led four flagged expeditions. McCallum is the deepest-diving New Zealander, having reached 10,925 m in the Challenger Deep.

 Conservation 
McCallum earned a degree in Parks and Recreation Management from Lincoln University and an M.Sc. in Conservation Management from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He worked in Papua New Guinea as a Technical Advisor for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supporting community-based rainforest protection initiatives. He co-authored the book Race for the Rainforest with Nikhil Sekhran.

McCallum spent 23 years working in New Zealand’s national parks and protected areas. After rising to the role of Conservator, he left the Department of Conservation to pursue expedition work.

In 2024, he was appointed an Ambassador for the New Zealand Nature Fund, which supports national conservation projects, including predator eradication efforts on the sub-Antarctic Auckland Island.

 Deep-Ocean Operations 
From 2005 to 2012, McCallum was General Manager of Deep Ocean Expeditions, which operated the twin Mir submersibles for deep-sea dives to locations including the Bismarck (twice), RMS Titanic (seven times), hydrothermal vent sites, and the Deep Challenge Expedition.

He also served as General Manager of Deep Ocean Quest (2006–2011), where he was involved in the design and construction of the research vessel MV Alucia. Its first major mission was the search for Air France Flight 447, after which the vessel became associated with OceanX.

From 2012 to 2018, he was Manager – Special Projects and a partner at Williamson and Associates, a deep-water search firm that operated AMS60 and WA30 sonar systems. Projects included searches for HMAS Sydney, HSK Kormoran, AHS Centaur, USS Grunion, INS Dakar, and the 2013 Bezos Expeditions project to recover Rocketdyne F-1 engines from Apollo 11.

 Expeditions 
In 2008, McCallum and Tim Soper co-founded EYOS Expeditions, a company that organizes expeditions for private clients, research groups, government agencies, and media organizations.

EYOS expeditions twice set the Guinness World Record for the furthest south reached by any vessel. Other records include the largest vessel to transit the Northwest Passage and the first double transit of the route.

McCallum was expedition leader and mission designer for the Five Deeps Expedition, which took Victor Vescovo to the deepest point of each of the five oceans. The expedition received the Citation of Merit from The Explorers Club and reported the discovery of more than 40 new species and mapping of over 4 million km² of ocean floor.

McCallum later participated in expeditions to the deepest points of all 10,000-m-plus trenches, including the Horizon Deep, the Philippine Trench, Calypso Deep, and the Suakin Trough.

On 7 April 2021, McCallum and Tim MacDonald (Australia) reached 10,925 m in the Challenger Deep, becoming the deepest-diving individuals from their respective countries.

In July 2023, McCallum planned and led the “Interstellar Expedition” for Harvard University to recover interstellar meteorite particles from 1700 m off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

McCallum also served on the Executive Committee of the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) and is Chair of the Expedition Committee on the Board of Trustees of Nekton Mission, which launched Ocean Census in 2023.

He is a member of the Strategic Advisory Council of DEEP, an organization developing subsea human-habitation technology.

Between 2009 and 2016, McCallum provided advice to Stockton Rush and OceanGate. He later expressed safety concerns about the unclassed submersible Titan in emails disclosed by the BBC after its 2023 implosion.

McCallum has been interviewed widely on expedition safety and appears in the Netflix documentary Titan.

 Design Consultation 
McCallum has worked as a design consultant for expedition-capable vessels, including MV Alucia and the SeaXplorer series built by Damen Yachting. The first two SeaXplorers, measuring 62 m and 77 m, launched in 2020, with additional models built later.

 Awards 
McCallum received the 2024 Alumni International Medal from Lincoln University.

In July 2025, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Aberystwyth University.

 References 

Category:1965 births
Category:Living people
Category:Oceanographers