Undeterred by the OceanGate disaster, Larry Connor, an Ohio real estate investor, has announced plans to dive more than 12,400 feet to the Titanic wreck site inside a two-person submersible with Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey.
In June 2023, OceanGate organized an expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic in the depths of the North Atlantic Ocean with five people aboard their submersible, named Titan.
After one hour and 45 minutes, the submersible was lost and a rescue operation was launched after the ship failed to surface at the scheduled time later that day.
The operation continued for four days, after which it was revealed that the ship had imploded, killing everyone on board, including Shahzada Dawood, a Pakistani-British businessman, his son Suleman, and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate.
Despite the tragedy, Connor plans to descend in a deep-sea submersible on Triton in a bid to prove that the industry is safer now.
He revealed that he will be accompanied by Triton co-founder and CEO Patrick Lahey.
Connor said he wants to show the world that the ocean can be “wonderful and enjoyable and really life-changing if you do it the right way.”
He explained that the $20 million Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer vessel was designed by Lahey and is capable of making multiple trips to the treacherous depths of the ocean.
Connor told the Wall Street Journal: “Patrick has been thinking and designing this for more than a decade. But we didn't have the materials or the technology. You couldn't have built this submarine five years ago.”
Connor has not yet revealed when his expedition will take place.
