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Larry Connor, an Ohio billionaire, has shared his plans to travel to the shipwreck of the Titanic almost a year after the Titan submersible implosion.
According to the New York Post, the real estate investor shared his plans to plunge to the depths of the Titanic while speaking with the Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Sunday, May 26.
Connor explained that he and Patrick Lahey, the co-founder of Triton Submarines, plan to take the dive in a “two-person submersible.” The outlet adds that Lahey designed the submersible, which is worth $20 million and can make the voyage “repeatedly.”
“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 outlet, per the New York Post.
According to the outlet, Connor urged Lahey to build the design just days after OceanGate’s submersible, Titan, imploded underwater in June 2023. At the time, the passengers on the submersible were also en route to the Titanic’s shipwreck.
“[He 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.
The New York Post reports that Connor and Lahey have yet to publicly share their voyage date.
Social media users reacted to Connor and Lahey’s plans in The Shade Room’s comment section.
Instagram user @ryan.james wrote, “These folks be so rich and bored.”
Instagram user @patrickcloud wrote, “Why do we keep having to go through this”
Instagram user @indeskribeabull wrote, “Y’all don’t learn lol”
As The Shade Room previously reported, OceanGate’s Titan submersible was reported missing after it descended into the sea on June 18, 2023, in search of the Titanic’s shipwreck.
On June 20, 2023, it was reported that five people — including the company’s CEO — were on board the sub, which lost signal in the Atlantic Ocean. Additionally, the search for the group was dire as their oxygen levels in the sub were dwindling.
By June 29, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard reportedly found “presumed human remains” along with the sub’s wreckage and determined that the Titan imploded underwater.
Ultimately, OceanGate suspended all further explorations with its submarines on July 6, 2023, per The Shade Room.
As of Tuesday, May 28, the company’s official website states that “all exploration and commercial operations” remain suspended.
