US real estate billionaire plans submersible trip to Titanic shipwreck

A billionaire real estate agent is planning an expedition on a submersible to the Titanic shipwreck.

Larry Connor, who made his cash selling luxury homes in the US state of Ohio, is teaming up with Patrick Lahey, co-founder of Triton Submarines, for the proposed underwater mission.

The pair told the Wall Street Journal they hoped to take a trip down to around 3,800 metres (12,467 feet) to see the shipwreck in the North Atlantic Ocean.

They were undeterred by the previous mission to the Titanic, which ended in disaster.

In June 2023, five people, including British billionaire Hamish Harding and UK-based Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, were all killed after company OceanGate sent a submersible down to the wreck.

As of 2021, the company charged passengers $100,000-$150,000 (around £78,260 to £117,400) each to participate in the voyage.

The Titan sub lost contact with the mainland within hours of the dive beginning and four days later, US Coast Guard officials announced they found debris from the Titan.

Debris from Titan, which is believed to have imploded as it made its descent, was located roughly 1,600 feet from the Titanic on the ocean floor.

Mr Connor and Mr Lahey both have experience in deep sea diving.

In April 2021, the pair both completed three dives to the deepest parts of the oceans in only five days.

The three explorations took them to the Challenger Deep, Sirena Deep and a seamount in the Mariana Trench, located in the Western Pacific Ocean.

The pair gathered high-quality video footage and samples in the ‘hadal zone’ or the area of the ocean below 20,000 feet – the final frontier of exploration on Earth.

At the time, Mr Connor said: “To successfully complete three dives in just five days into the darkest, most inhospitable and unknown parts of Earth is an endeavor I was honored to be a part of.”

If the proposed mission was to go ahead the pair would travel in one of Mr Lahey's submarines, The TRITON 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer.

According to the Triton website the Abyssal Explorer has a 4,000-metre depth-rating, which means it is "the perfect submersible for repeated trips to the deep ocean".

Their vessels also have some well-known clients, including David Attenborough's Blue Planet II team.

OceanGate's Titan submarine was only certified to 1,300 metres, far short of the ocean floor where the Titanic wreck is.

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