Titanic explorer planning new voyage with "safest submersible ever built"

Nearly a year after the tragic submersible accident that claimed five lives, an Ohio billionaire is planning a new mission to explore the Titanic wreck. Larry Connor, a prominent Dayton real estate investor and head of the Connor Group, is dedicated to making sure their voyage to the famed shipwreck is safe and successful.

Forbes estimates Connor's net worth at $2 billion, and he's teaming up with Patrick Lahey, co-founder and president of Triton Submarines. Lahey is an experienced submersible designer with a history of safe deep-dive expeditions. He was the second Canadian to descend nearly 36,000 feet to the Mariana Trench's bottom. He has spent years ensuring his company’s submersibles are safe and reliable for deep-sea dives.

The partnership between Connor and Lahey began shortly after the Titan's fatal incident. Lahey revealed to The Wall Street Journal that Connor contacted him just days after the implosion with a clear vision. Connor emphasized the need for a reliable submersible capable of repeatedly and safely reaching Titanic-level depths.

"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 recounted to The Wall Street Journal.

Having explored the Mariana Trench in 2021 and the International Space Station in 2022, Connor expressed his passion for deep-sea adventures. He aims to show that the ocean can be both powerful and wonderful when approached correctly.

"Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade, but we didn't have the materials and technology," Connor told The Journal. The duo plans to use the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, a high-performance submersible designed for professional applications. This vessel is capable of diving to 4,000 meters below the sea, providing it with the necessary range to reach the Titanic resting about 12,500 feet underwater.

According to Triton's website, the Triton 4000/2 is commercially certified for dives over 13,000 feet, making it a safe and suitable option for the Titanic expedition. The Titan sub that tragically imploded last year was not made of acrylic and had a much lower certified range of up to 1,300 meters, as reported by BBC.

As of now, Connor and Lahey have not disclosed the exact date of their planned voyage. However, their effort represents a renewed hope for safe and successful deep-sea explorations, aiming to inspire confidence in the viability and thrill of such endeavors.