Nearly a year after the Titan submersible catastrophically imploded, killing all five people onboard, another billionaire is planning to visit the wreckage of the Titanic to prove that the industry has improved its safety standards since the disaster.
"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," Ohio real estate investor Larry Connor told the Wall Street Journal.
Who is Larry Connor?
Connor, 74, is married with three children and has an estimated networth of $2 billion.
The real estate group he co-found in 1991 has a $5 billion portfolio of 51 apartment buildings, according to Forbes.
Journeying to the Titanic's depths will not be his first brush with extreme adventure. He has also visted the Mariana Trench and the International Space Station. Last year he broke the world record for the highest HALO formation skydive.
Connor plans to visit the famous shipwreck with Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey in a two-person submersible called the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer. In Greek mythology, Triton was the son of Poseidon, the king of the sea.
"Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn't have the materials and technology," Connor told the Wall Street Journal. "You couldn't have built this sub five years ago."
What is the Triton submersible?
The Triton submersible is valued at $20 million and has an "exceptionally compact footprint" and specialized "gull wings" according to the company's website.
"With the wings retracted, the submersible is streamlined for ascent and descent, and capable of maneuvering in and around incredibly tight spaces," the website reads. "The low placement of the lighting and cameras is ideal for macro work, scientific observation or close filming."
Connor first pitched the idea of a stronger submersible to Lahey just days after the Titan disaster left many critics arguing that humans should leave the deep sea alone.
"[Connor 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 told the Wall Street Journal.
Who is Patrick Lahey?
Lahey was one of many individuals in the submersible industry who criticized Stockton Rush, the owner of OceanGate, the deep sea exploration company that manufactured the ill-fated Titan vessel.
"He could even convince someone who knew and understood the risks," Lahey told British newspaper the Times. "It was really quite predatory."
"At the very time this monstrosity was being made, I was building the most capable subs of our age," he told the outlet.
