Larry Connor, a 74-year-old real estate magnate and amateur explorer from Ohio, has expressed his intention to embark on an undersea quest to the location of the Titanic wreck. This plan follows a calamity where a submersible met its disastrous fate during a dive, causing the death of five individuals on board.
In the aftermath of the OceanGate catastrophe, Connor engaged Patrick Lahey, co-founder of Triton Submarines, with a request to construct a submersible capable of not only reaching Titanic’s final resting place safely but also repeatedly. The duo’s aspiration is to undertake exploration and scientific investigation at the site, situated at a depth of 12,500ft in Newfoundland’s oceanic outskirts.
Connor clarified that their endeavour wouldn’t merely be a journey to the Titanic site but it instead constitutes a scientific mission. One of their ulterior motives was to affirm to a global audience about the feasibility and safety of operating a pioneering, maiden-type submersible to profound depths.
Connor intends to call this bespoke submersible “The Explorer – Return to the Titanic.” The design will draw upon a pre-existing submarine blueprint that Lahey had spent years materially enhancing. The vessel, referred to as the Abyssal Explorer on Triton’s official web portal, will be an acrylic-hulled craft adept at reaching 13,000 feet deep into the ocean.
Once submerged, the hydrodynamics of the design allows the vessel to hasten its descent. The travel to the maximum depth would take less than two hours, a significant improvement on previous durations. The sub will provide an unparalleled visual access of 320-degrees via its acrylic hull, a departure from the restricted views offered by the small window portals in traditional deep-sea subs.
Connor stated that this venture wouldn’t have been possible even six to eight years ago, but recent advancements in technology over the past half-decade have made it feasible. A request to interview Lahey was redirected to Connor’s spokesperson, who confirmed that only Connor would issue any statements related to this expedition.
Connor expressed that his desire to visit the Titanic in a new submersible is fuelled by his overarching interest in promoting marine exploration. In his opinion, submersibles represent the most effective tool for this purpose.
The submersible’s final cost remains unknown, with Connor forming an estimate in the millions.
He was careful to differentiate the submersible he intends to operate during his trip to the Titanic from the one utilised in the fatal journey to the sunken ship the prior year.
Following the disastrous event involving the Titan on the 18th of June, 2023, there was an outpour of criticism from amateur and professional underwater explorers regarding the economical design aspects of the vessel.
The Titan vanished in the North Atlantic’s murky depths, severing connection with its mother ship, the MV Polar Prince, located around 400 miles south of St. John’s, Newfoundland. This was 105 minutes into its voyage.
The passengers of the ill-fated journey were Stockton Rush, aged 61, founder and CEO of OceanGate Expeditions, who was steering the vessel; Hamish Harding, 58, a British businessman and explorer; Paul-Henri Nargeolet, 77, a French maritime specialist; Shahzada Dawood, 48, a British Pakistani businessmen, and his son Suleman, aged 19.
After six days, multinational search operations concluded upon discovering proof of a terrible implosion resulting in no survivors.
Before the Titan’s disaster, there had never been casualties related to operating or being aboard a submersible. This enviable safety record had been maintained despite numerous dives carried out by explorers over almost 100 years.
Connor holds the OceanGate incident responsible for damage inflicted on the submersible industry’s reputation and negatively influencing the public’s perception of innovative attempts within the industry.
Connor worries that the association of novel or varied subs with danger or accidents may discourage future innovation. Plans are underway to produce a submersible endorsed or ‘classified’ (the industry term) by reputable institutes dedicated to extensive testing, re-establishing the safety of well-constructed submersibles. The proposed submersible will be accredited, with development timeline estimates around 2.5 to 3 years.
It was revealed that the experimental Titan developed by OceanGate was not accredited. Despite this, Rush publicised it as evidence of pioneering innovation, igniting concern in industry experts regarding the vessel’s safety.
Connor is renowned for never engaging in ventures that present an “intolerable hazard”. He firmly stated that if a task couldn’t be handled “safely and successfully”, they wouldn’t attempt it. Connor described his team as cautious and not inclined towards high-risk endeavors.
Despite this, Connor has a record as a skydiver, astronaut, and deep-sea explorer. In 2021, he partnered with Lahey for three extended descents into the depths of the Mariana Trench—located nearly 200 miles from the Guam coast—in the western Pacific Ocean over five days. Travelling in DSV Limiting Factor, a Triton-made submersible, they reached underwater depths close to 35,000 feet, a height surpassing Mount Everest.
By April 2022, Connor embarked on a SpaceX trip to the International Space Station, in the company of a retired NASA astronaut and two other participants each paying their own way. This mission represented the maiden voyage for space tourism exclusively managed by NASA and private citizens.
During their eight-day space voyage, which cost Connor and the other two civilians $55 million each, he and his companions carried out a suite of research experiments. These were conducted in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and several other medical establishments – information provided by The New York Times.