The audacious scheme of tycoon Larry Connor to visit the Titanic’s remains emerges just 12 months subsequent to the devastating demise of the manned OceanGate Titan.
A year has slipped by since OceanGate’s submersible, Titan, endured calamitous failure en route to the Titanic’s resting place. Now, Connor aspires to journey to the seabed in a personal submersible, convinced such a venture can be executed without peril, given cutting-edge advancements.
Post the OceanGate Titan’s fatal crash, claiming five lives, Patrick Lahey, president and co-founder of Triton Submarines, received an intriguing call from Connor.
“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,’” Lahey relayed to the Wall Street Journal in a story released over the past weekend.
In response, Lahey agrees to craft the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, a submersible for two, advertised at $20 million on the company’s website. This model is touted to safely dive to around 4,000 meters, surpassing the Titanic’s base depth of 3,800 meters.
Connor spoke of revolutionary “materials and technology” integral to this new vessel, “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.”
His ambitions are to alter public perception: “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,” asserts Connor, who’s no stranger to deep-sea explorations, having traversed the depths of the Mariana Trench.
Connor addresses the skepticism following the previous year’s catastrophe, stating the fears revived “old myths that only a crazy person would dive in one of these things,” – a myth he believes stands only if the crafts are uncertified and substandard.
However, numerous onlookers of last year’s harrowing quest to locate the Titan submersible carry their doubts about the safety of such undertakings, despite Connor’s conviction in his vessel’s superior design.
Users on X (the new incarnation of Twitter) express varied opinions, from outright skepticism to questioning the entire purpose. “Why are billionaires so fixated on a ship that sank ages ago?” one user pondered.
Moreover, some predict a grim outcome akin to the previous endeavor: “This probably won’t end well, again,” a user predicted.
The OceanGate tragedy’s toll included lives such as Hamish Harding, Shahzada Dawood and his young son Suleman, the skilled diver Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and OceanGate’s own Stockton Rush.
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FAQ Section
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Who is planning the submersible journey to the Titanic?
Billionaire Larry Connor is planning the submersible journey.
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What happened to the OceanGate Titan submersible?
The OceanGate Titan imploded on its way to the Titanic site, killing all 5 onboard.
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What is the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer?
The Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer is a two-person submersible designed to dive to depths of about 4,000 meters safely.
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How much does the Triton 4000/2 cost?
It is listed for $20 million.
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What depths can the new submersible reach?
It is designed to dive to around 4,000 meters, which is deeper than the Titanic at 3,800 meters.
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Why does Larry Connor want to make the dive?
He wants to demonstrate that deep-sea exploration can be safe and inspiring when conducted correctly.