Ohio billionaire Larry Connor plans to explore the Titanic wreckage site with a new $20 million submarine, just one year after the fatal OceanGate incident that saw five deaths. His goal is to prove that such an expedition can be done safely when proper engineering is employed. 

“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 told the Wall Street Journal.

Connor is an entrepreneur who founded a luxury real estate company, The Connor Group, based in Dayton, Ohio. Forbes estimates his net worth at $2 billion and his company at $5 billion. 

He is also known for his previous explorations, including trips to the Mariana Trench and the International Space Station.

In 2021, he explored both the Challenger Deep and the Sirena Deep in the Mariana Trench, which at nearly 36,000 feet deep are two of the lowest points on Earth’s seabed.

In 2022, he became one of the world’s first private astronauts. He paid $55 million to fly to the International Space Station on Axiom Mission 1, accompanied by a former NASA astronaut.

Connor and Triton Submarines co-founder and CEO Patrick Lahey plan to embark on this expedition in a Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer, a two-person submersible. 

This vessel is the “world’s deepest diving acrylic sub” and can descend to depths of 4,000 meters, or just over 13,100 feet, surpassing the Titanic site that is at approximately 12,500 feet. Contrary, OceanGate’s Titan submarine was made of carbon fiber and was only certified to a depth of just under 4,300 feet.

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

The specific date for the planned dive has not been disclosed. The vessel first has to be certified by a marine organization.