Larry Connor, a real estate investor from Ohio, is set to dive more than 12,400 feet depth to the site of the Titanic wreck in a two-person submersible, undeterred by last year’s OceanGate disaster.
Connor will be accompanied by Patrick Lahey, co-founder and CEO of Triton Submarines.
In June 2023, the OceanGate submersible, Titan, embarked on an ill-fated expedition to the Titanic resting deep beneath the North Atlantic.
The vessel, carrying five people including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush and Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, was lost after an hour and 45 minutes.
A four-day rescue mission ended in heartbreak when it was revealed that Titan had imploded, killing all aboard.
Connor’s planned descent in Triton’s state-of-the-art submersible aims to restore confidence in deep-sea exploration.
“Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade,” Connor told the Wall Street Journal.
“But we didn’t have the materials and technology. You couldn’t have built this sub five years ago.”
Also read: OceanGate still advertising Titanic trips after ‘catastrophic implosion’ of Titan sub
The vessel, the $20 million Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, is the product of years of research and development.
Designed by Lahey, it promises enhanced safety and reliability, marking a significant advancement in submersible technology.
Connor emphasized the transformative potential of underwater exploration.
“I want to show the world that the ocean can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way,” he said.
US billionaire, Larry Connor plans to visit the Titanic wreck in a $20m submersible pic.twitter.com/0khxZxccrQ
— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) May 29, 2024
The exact date of Larry Connor and Lahey’s expedition to plunge to Titanic wreck remains undisclosed, but their mission is clear: to demonstrate that with the right technology and precautions, deep-sea exploration can be safe and rewarding.
