Here's the new submersible a billionaire wants to take to Titanic wreck
An Ohio real estate billionaire has flown 254 miles into space to the International Space Station and dived 7 miles beneath the Pacific into the Mariana Trench. Now he plans to visit Titanic.
Larry Connor, 74, says he'll visit the wreck in a two-person submersible now being designed. His announcement comes a year after the fatal undersea implosion of the OceanGate sub Titan as it approached the sunken liner in 2023.
Five people, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, died aboard the Titan.
After Titan’s loss, Connor contracted with Triton Submarines, a manufacturer of deep-sea submersibles, to build a vessel capable of repeated deep-sea dives. That story was initially reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Connor said a dive to the Titanic site can be done safely with proper engineering, USA TODAY reported.
Connor and Triton co-founder Patrick Lahey intend to research the Titanic site, according to The New York Times. A date has not been announced, but a voyage in 2026 is possible, the Times said.
Why build a new sub?
After the OceanGate sub disaster, Connor contacted Lahey and asked him to build a submersible that could safely visit Titanic on multiple missions, the Times reported.
The purpose was twofold: to enable Titanic research and to show the world that such a revolutionary sub could be built.
The new sub will be based on a Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, an existing Triton vehicle the company says is “the world’s deepest diving acrylic sub.”
The two-person sub has a depth rating of 13,123 feet, or nearly 2½ miles. Titanic lies at 12,500 feet.
Triton also has crewed vehicles capable of deeper dives. Its 36000/2 sub is capable of diving to full ocean depth, the company says.
The average ocean depth is 12,080 feet, but depths vary because the ocean floor isn’t flat – it has plains, mountains and canyons.
The deepest part is the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean, about 200 miles from Guam. It's about 35,876 feet deep, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
What else has billionaire Larry Connor accomplished?
Connor's planned trip to Titanic isn't his first adventure. Others include:
- 2021: Connor and Lahey dived more than 35,000 feet into the Mariana Trench.
- 2022: Connor was part of the International Space Station's first-ever civilian mission, which lasted 17 days. He was the pilot of the flight.
Connor is a licensed pilot and member of the International Aerobatic Club, which promotes sport aerobatics, the practice of flying aircraft in different maneuvers.
Connor is CEO of The Connor Group, a real estate investment company based in Dayton, Ohio. The company says it owns and operates luxury apartment communities across the U.S.
The Connor Group’s real estate portfolio is worth $5 billion, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Connor co-founded the company with two partners in 1991 and bought them out in 2003. His net worth is $2 billion, the Enquirer said.
Contributing: Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA TODAY; Jason Rossi, Sarah Brookbank, Wayne Baker, Cincinnati Enquirer
Source: USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Triton Submarines; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; livescience.com