Ohio Billionaire Builds $20 Million Sub to Prove Titanic Wreck Site Can Be Safely Visited After Titan Disaster

A year later the Titan submarine disasteran American billionaire launches a new $20 million submarine project to prove it the Titanic wreck site can be explored safely.

Larry Connor, 74, a real estate magnate from Ohio, plans to travel 10,000 feet to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean in a two-person submarine made by Triton Submarines.

This comes after five people died – including the founder of OceanGate Stockton Rush – in a similar submarine when it suffered a catastrophic implosion about an hour and 45 minutes after its dive to the Titanic wreck site.

OceanGate, which charged $250,000 for trips to the site, subsequently suspended all operations pending an ongoing investigation.

“I want to show people around the world that although the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be beautiful, enjoyable and truly life-changing if you treat it right,” Connor told the BBC. Wall Street Journal.

Connor teams up with Patrick Lahey, an experienced diver and submarine designer who co-founded Triton Submarines.

They will make the journey in a submarine known as the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer – one of a range of submarines produced by the company.

Connor had already advertised on the Triton Submarines website and said the vehicle uses new technology that was not available five years ago.

“Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for more than ten years. But we didn't have the materials and technology,” Connor said. “You couldn't have built this submarine five years ago.”

According to the company's website, the Triton is the deepest diving acrylic sub in the world, and it is advertised as having “unparalleled” capabilities.

“[He said]You know, what we need to do is build a submarine that we can dive to [Titanic-level depths] repeatedly and safely and show the world that you can do that, and that Titan was a device,” Lahey said.

It is currently unknown when Connor and Lahey plan to make the trip to the Titanic wreck site.

The billionaire has previously been critical of late OceanGate founder Stockton Rush, describing his approach to deep-sea exploration as “predatory”.

On June 18, 2023, Rush was killed instantly in the Titan submarine along with Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Shahzada and Suleman Dawood and Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

The submarine reportedly imploded under immense water pressure due to structural weakness or a problem with the hatch.

The independent has contacted Trion Submarines for more information.