In an audacious response to a deep-sea disaster that took the lives of five explorers, Ohio billionaire Larry Connor has announced plans to venture to the Titanic’s resting place in a state-of-the-art submersible.
This daring expedition aims to demonstrate the safety of modern deep-sea travel and to inspire awe in the ocean’s grandeur despite its inherent dangers.
Nearly a year after the tragic implosion of the OceanGate submersible while en route to the infamous Titanic wreck—a catastrophe that claimed five souls—Connor is set to embark on a journey that pushes the boundaries of human endeavor and technological prowess.
The fatal incident, which occurred on June 18, shocked the submersible industry and raised pertinent questions about the safety of such ventures.
Connor, an experienced adventurer who has journeyed to the Mariana Trench and beyond Earth’s atmosphere to the International Space Station, is partnering with Patrick Lahey, the co-founder of Triton Submarines.
Together, they plan to navigate oceanic depths in the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, a vessel hailed as the “world’s deepest diving acrylic sub.”
According to Connor, this $20 million submersible represents a leap in technology and materials that wouldn’t have been possible five years ago. “Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn’t have the materials and technology,” Connor stated.
The “4000” in its designation not only signifies its meter dive capacity but also its place as a pioneer in the submersible industry.
The mission takes on a deeper significance as it seeks to redeem the reputation of personal subs, following the loss of OceanGate’s Titan and its passengers: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman, Hamish Harding, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
“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 shared with The Wall Street Journal.
The Titan tragedy was met with fierce criticism over the vessel’s safety standards, with industry experts including Lahey himself previously voicing concerns.
Lahey’s new submersible is a response to those concerns, developed to withstand the rigors of extreme-depth exploration repeatedly and safely. The voyage’s timing remains unspecified, yet the intent is clear: to showcase resilience and safety in the face of past adversity.
Critics of OceanGate accused the company of skirting established safety practices, as the Titan was not certified by respected safety groups such as the American Bureau of Shipping or Det Norske Veritas in Europe.
Lahey himself criticized the OceanGate approach as “quite predatory.” This calamity spurred industry-wide introspection and a call to reevaluate the risks involved in exploring remote underwater locations.
Despite the disaster, industry consultants like Rob McCallum expressed confidence in the overall safety of the industry, stressing that classed submersibles undergo extensive testing. “In that sense, OceanGate didn’t make the industry look bad,” McCallum told The Wall Street Journal. “It made us look good.”
Relevant articles:
– Billionaire wants to take sub to ‘Titanic-level depths’ after OceanGate implosion, wate.com
– Ohio man plans to take a 2-person submersible to Titanic depths to show the industry is safe after the OceanGate tragedy, Yahoo
– Ohio billionaire Larry Connor plans to take $20M sub to Titanic site to prove industry’s safer after OceanGate implosion, New York Post