The largest pool will hold seven million liters of water Photo: Coral World
By Isabel Pancake
It was a mega catastrophe: In December, the “Aquadome” exploded! 1500 fish died, two people were slightly injured. A similar aquarium is currently being planned in Lichtenberg. But the new pool doesn’t hold one million liters of water, but seven!
This is planned: “OCEAN Berlin” is being built on the Rummelsburg Bay, including an underwater world, a hotel and a public park with small aquariums. In total, all pools hold twelve million liters of water.
The pool with the underwater tunnel alone is eight meters wide and 15 meters high. “And thus the largest in Europe,” said project manager Erez ben-Nun (60) from “Coral World Berlin” to BZ
The pool with underwater tunnel is to be eight meters wide and 15 meters high Photo: Coral World
After the Aquadom disaster, many Berliners are worried about the new building project. Can such a disaster happen again?
The destroyed cylinder of the Aquadome and remains of the acrylic cladding Photo: dpa
Lichtenberg’s district councilor Kevin Hönicke (SPD) said when asked by the BZ: “The security concerns are taken very seriously and are also very important.” After the accident, he immediately sought a conversation with “Coral World”.
According to the project manager, the two aquariums cannot be compared with each other. He says: “An accident like that at the Aquadom happens around the world maybe once in 20 or 30 years – but we have had a damage-free accident record for almost 50 years. For example, we put the panes through their paces every five years.”
There is also a crucial difference in the construction: The Aquadom consisted of 41 acrylic panels glued together. The “OCEAN Berlin”, on the other hand, has somewhat smaller panes of glass made from one piece. In addition, the panes should be 20 to 30 percent thicker than they should be.
The mega-aquarium is scheduled for completion in early 2026.