Latest Videos
Not even a year after the OceanGate sub ended in a catastrophic implosion en route to the Titanic, plans for another expedition are underway.
Knewz.com has learned that an Ohio real estate billionaire, Larry Connor, plans on teaming up with Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey, to show the world that the ocean can be “can be wonderful and enjoyable.”
“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 in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The current plan is for Connor and Lahey to take the ominous 2.3-mile plunge to the Titanic in a two-man submersible named the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer.
Though yet to be built it is expected to set the duo back a cool $20 million but be durable enough to make numerous trips to the 112-year-old wreck.
The decision, according to Connor, is not an impulsive one and has been on the cards for years.
“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,” Connor explained.
The idea was broached by Connor in a telephone call to Lahey when he encouraged him to build a better vessel. This conversation took place mere days after OceanGate's submersible, the Titan, joined the Titanic in its watery grave.
Lahey recalled the phone call in an exchange with the Wall Street Journal.
According to Lahey, Connor 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.”
Lahey himself was also critical, not only of The Titan submersible but of the late OceanGate’s CEO, Stockton Rush too.
Undeterred by Rush’s sudden demise, Lahey told The UK Times: “He (Rush) could even convince someone who knew and understood the risks. It was really quite predatory.”
Lahey is the founder and CEO of Triton Submarines based out of Sebastian, Florida, and is responsible for one of the industry’s most groundbreaking inventions.
Said invention, better known as the Limiting Factor, is the world's first certified titanium-hulled submersible capable of creeping on the ocean floors at “full depths.”
Connor on the other hand - along with being a tech enthusiast and property mogul - is a NASA-certified private astronaut.
He spent a total of 17 days, 1 hour, and 48 minutes in space as part of the Axiom mission which took place in 2021, per Times Now News.
Thus far, neither Connor nor Lahey have given a date for their anticipated trip to the Titanic.