| Oceanic | |
| Type: | Private |
| Genre: | Diving equipment |
| Foundation: | 1972 |
| Founder: | Bob Hollis |
| Location City: | San Leandro, California |
| Location Country: | United States |
| Industry: | Scuba equipment manufacturing |
| Products: | Dive computers, rebreathers |
| Owner: | Huish Outdoors |
Oceanic is an American manufacturer of scuba gear. It was founded by Bob Hollis in 1972 and is based in San Leandro, California, United States.[1] Its products include dive computers, rebreathers and a novel diving mask incorporating a heads-up-display of information.
In 1972, Robert Hollis founded the parent company American Underwater Products which did business as Oceanic.[2] In 2017, Huish Outdoors acquired the Oceanic and Hollis brands from AUP.[3]
They developed the Phibian CCS50 and CCS100 rebreathers; Stuart Clough of Undersea Technologies developed the Phibian's electronics package. With its purpose-built training facility, Oceanic UK working closely with American Divers International, developed and delivered by both Stuart Clough and Paul Morrall training and familiarisation courses.[4] [5]
They have developed military rebreathers for use by frogmen and naval work divers, for example the US Navy MK-25 and the MK-16 mixed-gas rebreather.
Oceanic developed the first HUD style mask, which is an eyes-and-nose diving mask with a built-in LCD display, commercially known as a DataMask, capable of providing various dive data from an on-board diving computer.[6] [7]
Oceanic manufactures several dive computers for recreational divers.[8] Oceanic's computer division Pelagic Pressure Systems was sold to Aqua Lung in 2015.[9]
The company developed, in early 2008, a custom wetsuit for an alpha-male African penguin at Steinhart Aquarium who was suffering from problems maintaining core body temperature due to feather loss.[10]