Ohio billionaire plans to take sub to Titanic wreckage

Man plans trip to Titanic wreckage after 'Oceangate' tragedy

Another submersible could be headed to the wreckage of the Titanic.

A billionaire from Ohio wants to get on a sub to see the wreckage site of the Titanic, nearly one year after the OceanGate Titan submersible tragedy.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Larry Connor, a Dayton real-estate investor, and Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey will be making a journey to the site in a two-person vessel.

"Patrick has been thinking about and designing this for over a decade. But we didn’t have the materials and technology," Connor told the Journal. "You couldn’t have built this sub five years ago."

Triton Submarines is a Florida-based company that designs and manufactures luxury submersibles for research, filming and deep-ocean exploration.

The vessel is called the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, which is listed on the company’s website for $20 million. The "4000" represents the depth it can dive to in meters. The wreckage of the Titanic is at 3,800 meters.

"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 said.

It's unknown when the voyage will happen.

An undated photo shows a tourist submersible belonging to OceanGate begins to descent at sea. (Ocean Gate / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

On June 18, 2023, the Titan submersible was making its third voyage to the Titanic but was reported overdue about 435 miles south of St. John's, Newfoundland.

Officials from the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) of Canada board the Polar Prince, the main support ship for the Titan submersible, after it arrived at the Port of St. John's in Newfoundland, Canada. Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Hamish Harding, Stockton

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Debris from the Titan, which was believed to have imploded that day as it made its descent, was located roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor days later.

Five people on the vessel were killed: OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, British businessman Hamish Harding, father-and-son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, who are members of one of Pakistan’s most prominent families, and Paul-Henry Nargeolet, a former French navy officer who is considered a Titanic expert.

Remaining Titan submersible pieces recovered

Coast Guard crews have recovered the remaining evidence of the Titan submersible after it imploded underwater.

OceanGate, based in Everett, Washington, was once the subject of a massive lawsuit from an employee who alleged he was fired because he had raised safety concerns over how deep the vessel could descend.

In July 2023, OceanGate announced that it had suspended all exploration and commercial operations.