Titanic wreck: Triton Submarines and Ohio billionaire plan submersible to prove safety after OceanGate - depth
The expedition will only proceed once the vessel receives full certification
A US luxury real estate billionaire and a deep-sea explorer are planning a $20 million (£15.7 million) submersible trip to explore the Titanic wreck, to demonstrate its safety.
Ohio tycoon Larry Connor and Patrick Lahey, a leading submersible operator and co-founder of Triton Submarines, aim to dive to a depth of 3,800 metres (12,467 feet) in the North Atlantic Ocean to view the famous shipwreck.
The private submersible industry was shaken last year when a vessel built by OceanGate - made of carbon fibre and certified to a depth of only 1,300 metres - imploded en route to the Titanic, killing five people in June.
The disaster resulted in the deaths of OceanGate's CEO Stockton Rush, 61, British-Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, 48, his son Suleman, 19, British businessman Hamish Harding, 58, and former French navy diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, 77.
Rush had reportedly ignored safety warnings from advisers - investigations by US and Canadian authorities are ongoing. The Triton project organisers are keen to emphasise the distinction between classed and unclassed submersibles.
A spokesman for Connor’s company stated on Tuesday (28 May) that the expedition would only proceed once a vessel receives full certification from a marine organisation.
Triton and other major manufacturers use third-party maritime classification societies to certify that their vessels are classed, ensuring they are safe and meet all regulations.
Connor aims to show that the expedition can be safely conducted. No timeframe has been set for the expedition, but the pair plan to use the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, a submersible capable of diving to 4,000 metres.
Connor told the Wall Street Journal, which first reported on the proposed Triton expedition: “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.”
Lahey designed the $20 million submersible specifically for this mission, but while he had the design in mind for more than a decade, the materials and technology necessary to make it a reality only recently became available.
Connor contacted Lahey days after the Titan tragedy, urging him to build a safer submersible “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.”
The private submersible industry experienced a downturn after the Titan disaster, with companies cancelling trips in the face of declining sales, but Lahey has said he hopes a successful voyage can reignite interest in submersible exploration.
Lahey co-founded Triton Submarines in 2008, while Connor is head of The Connor Group, a real estate investment firm based near Dayton, Ohio.
In 2021, the duo explored the Challenger Deep and the Sirena Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest points on Earth’s seabed, reaching depths nearly 36,000 feet.