Another Billionaire Wants To Go Find The Titanic In A Submarine To Prove That Deep Dive Submarines Are Safe, Actually

In what seems to be becoming an annual story, a billionaire wants to take a miniature submarine down to the Titanic, this time with the mission to prove that taking a miniature submarine down to see the Titanic is not a death sentence.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Ohio billionaire Larry Connor is planning an expedition to the Titanic in a two-person submarine built by Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey.

Connor reportedly wants to complete a trip to the Titanic in a miniature submarine to show other very wealthy adventurers that the trip can be done without dying, which is a legitimate concern after last year's infamous OceanGate submarine implosion when OceanGate's "Titan" sub killed five wealthy travelers on their way to see the Titanic.

“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,” he said.

Lahey has designed a sub called the "Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer," and Connor believes the sub can make the trip to the Titanic's wreckage "repeatedly." Lahey thinks that the issue with the Oceangate was that the company had sidestepped various safety certifications, a mistake he will not make by ensuring his vessel will be up to code and be made out of tested material, unlike the Titan, which was made out of carbon fiber. The Triton will likely not be piloted with a video game controller either.

While it seems likely that Lahey's Triton won't suffer the same fate as OceanGate's Titan, social media did not have high hopes for its chances, with many expressing that they felt the OceanGate incident proved that trying to visit the Titanic in a very small boat is not a good idea.

https://t.co/RkkEedyECH pic.twitter.com/J0HCrVj6XL

— Ramp Capital (@RampCapitalLLC) May 27, 2024

No date is set for Connor and Lahey's trip, but needless to say, the two will be under a lot of pressure — in addition to carrying the weight of the deep sea tourism industry on their backs, the two will be under 375 atmospheres of water pressure at the Titanic wreckage. That will be about 5,500 pounds of pressure per square inch on their vessel.