One year after the harrowing loss of the Titan sub and its crew, a daring billionaire is stepping up, vowing to launch a safer expedition to the Titanic’s resting grounds.
Larry Connor, a real estate tycoon with a fortune valued at $2 billion, didn’t waste any time contacting a submersible firm right after the disaster. His mission? To commission a new sub and demonstrate that the Titan was an unfortunate anomaly.
It was a chilling moment on June 18, 2023, when the OceanGate submersible Titan stopped communicating with its support vessel, the Polar Prince, deep in the North Atlantic, about 12,500 feet underwater.
The sub was carrying OceanGate’s CEO Stockton Rush, the Dawoods—father and son duo, British billionaire Hamish Harding, and former French navy commander Paul-Henri Nargeolet.
News of the sub’s vanishing captivated the world until it was tragically confirmed that an implosion had occurred, instantly claiming the lives of everyone aboard.
With OceanGate pulling back from Titanic dives post-tragedy, Connor is prepared to pick up where they left off.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Connor expressed, “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.”
For this ambitious project, he’s teaming up with Patrick Lahey, the head of Triton Submarines. Lahey, known for his critical views on Rush’s operations, is now working on a revolutionary two-person sub, the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer.
Priced around $20 million, according to the company’s website, this submersible can dive deeper than the Titanic’s 3,800m depth.
Connor shared, “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.”
Lahey recalls the specifics of their conversation shortly after the disaster, noting Connor’s proactive approach: “He called me up and said, ‘You know, what we need to do is build a sub that can dive to [Titanic-level depths] repeatedly and safely and demonstrate to the world that you guys can do that.”
However, this upcoming journey is not without its detractors. The shadow of the Titan disaster looms large, sparking debate over the ethics and safety of such voyages to the Titanic’s watery grave.