A United States billionaire, Larry Connor, is planning to introduce a safer submarine to launch another groundbreaking deep-sea expedition to the Titanic’s depths.
The adventure is aimed to restore confidence in the safety of such ventures following last year’s tragic OceanGate incident, Marca reports.
Larry Connor, a real estate mogul from Dayton, intends to dive more than 12,400 feet to the Titanic wreck site in a cutting-edge submersible. He will be accompanied by Patrick Lahey, co-founder of Triton Submarines, who has engineered a $20 million vessel named the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer.
This two-person submersible is designed to undertake multiple deep-sea missions safely and reliably. The objective of their expedition is to demonstrate that deep-sea explorations can be conducted without peril, even after the disastrous implosion of the Titan submersible in June.
Recall that on June 18, 2023, the implosion of the Titan resulted in the deaths of all five passengers, including the Chief Executive Officer of OceanGate, Stockton Rush. “I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way,” Connor said.
“Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn’t have the materials and technology. You couldn’t have built this sub five years ago.” The Titan was en route to the Titanic site when it suffered a catastrophic failure on June 18, leading to the instantaneous deaths of Rush, billionaire adventurer Hamish Harding, French Titanic authority Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood along with his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman. Industry experts and a whistleblower had earlier voiced concerns about the Titan’s safety. These concerns were partly due to OceanGate’s decision to forgo certification from recognised safety bodies such as the American Bureau of Shipping and Det Norske Veritas in Europe. Ned Nwoko escapes being on Titanic Submarine, mourns friendMissing Titanic submersible: Why passengers lost their lives