An Ohio billionaire is planning to revisit the wreck of the Titanic in a deep-sea trip designed to prove it can be done.
Real estate investor Larry Connor revealed his plan as the one-year anniversary of the OceanGate disaster, in which a deep-sea submersible imploded on the ocean floor and killed all five people aboard, approaches.
“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, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Connor will be working with Patrick Lahey, who operates Triton Submarines and specializes in building submersibles for deep sea exploration.
Lahey said the implosion of OceanGate’s Titan sent shock waves through the deep-sea exploration industry, as the incident sparked fears nothing was safe.
“This tragedy had a chilling effect on people’s interest in these vehicles,” he said. “It reignited old myths that only a crazy person would dive in one of these things.”
Lahey then related how Connor approached him.
“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 and that Titan was a contraption.’”
Would you want to see the Titanic wreckage?
Lahey said the OceanGate vehicle was not rigorously tested as are the submersibles he builds. Connor said the two-person vehicle Lahey will build to take the two of them to the Titanic will be made possible only by advances in technology and materials. The vehicle is advertised as being able to dive to 4,000 meters, just beyond the depth where the Titanic rests.
“Ours is just not a trip to the Titanic,” Connor said, according to The New York Times. “It’s a research mission.”
“The other purpose is to demonstrate to people around the globe that you can build a revolutionary, first-of-its-kind sub and dive it safely and successfully to great depths,” he said.
Connor said the cost of the sub is well into the millions of dollars. The Journal report said the sub was listed on Triton’s website as costing $20 million.
Connor plans to call the acrylic-hulled submersible “The Explorer — Return to the Titanic,” and is still in the design phase, per the Times.
He said the vehicle will have a 320-degree view.
“Frankly, the technology didn’t exist even six or eight years ago,” Connor said. “It’s only been with recent developments in the last five years that you could build this.”
He said his goal is to spur interest in research underneath the sea.
“The best way, in my limited experience, to explore the ocean, is in a submersible,” he said.
“I’m concerned that people associate diving subs, especially new or different subs, with danger or tragedy,” he said, noting that the sub will be fully tested and take more than two years to build.
“If we can’t do it, what we call ‘s and s’ — safely and successfully — we’re just not going to do it,” Mr. Connor said. “We’re not thrill-seekers. We’re not big risk-takers.”
The Coast Guard has indicated there is no end date in sight for the investigation into the implosion of the Titan, according to the U.K. Independent.
“The Titan Marine Board of Investigation (MBI) remains in the fact-finding phase of the investigation and is collecting all relevant evidence and information. A projected completion date is not available,” a Coast Guard representative said.
