(Daily360.com) A billionaire real estate investor, Larry Connor, announced plans to take a submersible to the depth of 3,800 feet to explore the Titanic wreckage.
This plan comes less than a year after an OceanGate submersible imploded while attempting to tour the wreckage site. There were five people on board the submersible that were killed. Connor contacted the company Triton to suggest his plan to go to the Titanic wreckage site and prove that underwater tourism can be safe.
Triton is a company that makes personal submersibles. The company’s CEO and co-founder, Patrick Lahey, will embark upon the journey with Connor in an attempt to prove that underwater exploration can be safe and rewarding. Lahey said the OceanGate implosion had a profound effect on his company’s sales as people began to question why somebody would risk their life to explore the deep waters of the ocean.
According to Lahey, Connor contacted him to discuss his plan just days after the OceanGate implosion. There is still an ongoing investigation into the causes of the wreck. The former director of marine operations filed a lawsuit against the company in 2018. He said he was fired after sharing his concerns about the safety of the submersible at extreme depths.
Connor has a personal history of embarking upon thrill-seeking adventures. He holds a world record for skydiving from a balloon at a height of 38,139 feet. He has also traveled to an extreme sea depth of 35,876 feet. Connor has also flown to the International Space Station as a private astronaut in 2022. He stressed the importance of taking “calculated risks” in life rather than “stupid risks.”
Connor and Lahey plan to complete the underwater experience in the summer of 2026. Connor said he wants to show people how powerful and life-changing the ocean can be. If they are able to complete the mission safely, it could lead to more underwater exploration tourism for people in the future.
Copyright 2024, Daily360.com
