What could go wrong?
Janky Sub
Remember when OceanGate’s Titan submersible imploded mid-journey to the Titanic wreckage last year, killing five people aboard including at least one billionaire?
The spectacular accident has seemingly failed to deter a different wealthy person from risking life and limb to get to the Titanic. Ohio real estate billionaire Larry Connor told The Wall Street Journal that he plans to journey to the underwater wreck — but this time in an advanced two-person submersible that is supposedly safer and more reliable than the janky Titan, which was never certified for safety and used experimental materials like carbon fiber in its hull.
“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 WSJ.
Days after the Titan implosion, Connor called up Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton Submarines — which the WSJ described as “one of the leading makers of personal submersibles.”
“We had a client, a wonderful man,” Lahey told the WSJ, describing Connor. “He called me up and 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.'”
Stare Into the Abyss
There’s still no word when the mission will take place. Triton Submarines is developing a $20 million submersible called the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, which is billed on the company’s website as being able to go on repeated dives of more than 13,000 feet in depth. (The Titanic wreckage is at 12,500 feet underwater.)
“Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade,” Connor told the WSJ. “But we didn’t have the materials and technology. You couldn’t have built this sub five years ago.”
Unlike the Titan submersible, which was shaped like a cylinder and was controlled with a video game controller, the Triton appears far better equipped, featuring advanced controls and gull wings that help with maneuvering — at least according to early renderings.
The company has yet to announce when it will start going on sea voyages. But we imagine Lahey and Connor will put this sea vessel through the wringer, given the Titan’s demise.
More on the Titanic submarine: A Visibly Upset James Cameron Compares Submarine Implosion to Sinking of the Titanic
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