Billionaire Larry Connor to attempt risky dive to Titanic wreck site in new $20 million submarine

A year following the devastating Titan submersible incident that claimed five lives, real estate mogul Larry Connor, aged 74, has announced a pioneering $20 million submarine venture. 

In collaboration with experienced diver and submersible designer Patrick Lahey, co-founder of Triton Submarines, Connor aims to demonstrate that the Titanic wreck site can be explored without the perils that previously overshadowed such expeditions.

Connor plans to pilot the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, a two-person submersible from Triton Submarines, to a depth of 12,400 feet in the North Atlantic. 

This endeavor is designed to showcase advancements in submarine technology that Connor believes will redefine underwater exploration. 

“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. 

He emphasized that the capabilities of their new submersible were not possible five years ago due to limitations in available technology.

This new venture seeks to restore faith in deep-sea exploration after the tragic loss of OceanGate's founder, Stockton Rush, and four others in a similar dive. 

Rush and his team were onboard the Titan when it tragically imploded due to structural weaknesses—an hour and 45 minutes into their journey to the same historic site.

The disaster led to OceanGate suspending its operations, with investigations still ongoing.

Connor's new submarine, described on the Triton Submarines website as the world's deepest diving acrylic sub with unmatched capabilities, represents a significant leap forward in safety and technology. 

“[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 shared about the innovative project.

While the exact date for the maiden voyage has yet to be announced, the global community watches eagerly, hopeful that Connor and Lahey's efforts will mark a new era of safe and awe-inspiring oceanic exploration.