While morbid memories of the OceanGate submarine implosion disaster are still ripe in memory, an Ohio man, investor Larry Connor, has moved on. The practical man is also a hopeful one and aims to prove that the world shouldn’t shut its doors to the luxurious and niche idea of deep-sea exploration. He plans to take a two-person submersible down to Titanic-level depths to prove that the journey can be carried out safely. Connor told The Wall Street Journal: “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.”
In order to put his words into action, Connor is joining hands with Patrick Lahey, the co-founder and CEO of submersible manufacturer Triton Submarines. Lahey is touted to be one of the world’s most experienced submersible operators who touched the deepest point in the ocean in a sub, going over 35,000 feet below the water’s surface in the West Pacific. Connor has been to the Mariana Trench, the deepest oceanic trench on Earth.
The duo are geared for a new adventure in a two-person $20 million vessel called the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, named “4000” for the depth in meters it can reach. It is their way of releasing the world captured in paralyzing fear of the tribulations of exploration. After the OceanGate sub imploded in June, killing all five people aboard, Lahey said that Connor rang him 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.”
When the duo plans to take the trek to the Titanic wreck site isn’t declared, but they are indeed raring to go.
