A billionaire from the US state of Ohio is set to take a deep-sea submersible to Titanic depths to prove the industry is safer in the wake of the doomed OceanGate vessel that imploded last year.
The US-based company which managed the tourist submersible that imploded during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, suspended all exploration and commercial operations last year.
The Titan lost contact with its support vessel during its descent on June 18 last year. Its remains were found four days later, littering the seabed about 1,600 feet from the bow of the Titanic wreck. Now, US-based real estate investor Larry Connor and Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey will plunge more than 12,400 feet to the shipwreck site in a two-person submersible.
READ MORE: An Underwater Trip to Titanic for Rs 2 Crore But Was it Ever Safe Enough? Diving into OceanGate’s Issues
READ MORE: Titan Tragedy: Ex-passengers on OceanGate Submarine Reveal They Knew ‘This’ Was Going to Happen
“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 told the Wall Street Journal. Lahey has designed a USD 20 million vessel dubbed the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, which Connor said can carry out the voyage repeatedly. “Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn’t have the materials and technology,” Connor said. “You couldn’t have built this sub five years ago.”
In the aftermath of the tragic implosion of the Titan submersible in June, which claimed the lives of all five individuals on board, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, attention has turned to the efforts of Connor and Lahey. Determined to showcase the feasibility of deep-sea exploration, the duo aims to navigate the depths to the Titanic wreck site.
After the disaster that dominated headlines across the world, Connor urged Lahey to design a submersible capable of repeated and safe dives to Titanic-level depths. Criticisms have emerged regarding OceanGate’s safety standards, with Lahey himself expressing skepticism about Rush’s approach.
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