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Less than a year after the deaths of five more people aboard OceanGate’s submersible “Titan,” Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton Submarines, and entrepreneur Larry Connor are making plans for their own expedition to the best seas.
It’s the search and recovery project that captivated the world.
The other five people aboard the submersible OceanGate Titan lost their lives last year while en route to the famous wreck.
SEE ALSO | A boy from the suburbs visited the wreckage of the Titanic aboard OceanGate’s submersible Titan with CEO Stockton Rush
Now, less than a year later, Lahey and Connor need a chance. Connor spoke with Good Morning America’s Will Reeve about his plans.
“Almost three-quarters of the Earth is covered in water. In this context, is conducting studies vital and useful?” said Connor.
When asked what the purpose of the planned diveArray was, Connor replied, “To demonstrate safety. If you look at DNV-rated submersibles, there has never been an accident. The OceanGate shipment was not qualified and never would have been. “
READ MORE | Engineer Claims OceanGate CEO Ignored Warnings Against Carbon Fiber for Submarines
You may contact OceanGate for comment.
Connor says he and Lahey are designing a new, safer, more qualified submersible, known as Explorer, that will cost between $13 million and $15 million. It will carry two people, have an acrylic helmet and offer an almost panoramic view.
Five years ago, Reeve traveled to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean aboard a submersible that Connor and Lahey plan to build.
SEE ALSO | ‘Extreme danger’: Former OceanGate worker says he was fired for raising considerations about the disappearance of the Titanic submarine
When asked how confident he was that it would work, Connor replied, “I’m very confident in myself, but as soon as we don’t meet a standard, the task is done. We won’t compromise on security. Possibly it wouldn’t go anywhere and possibly it wouldn’t do anything. No dive, if I’m not 100% convinced that the submersible is safe. “
Deep-sea exploration has inherent risks.
“I don’t think technologies like deep-sea submersibles deserve to be abandoned because of a single accident. If you think back to the early days of space travel, we lost the entire crew. But that shows us what we’ve done in the afterlife and how to do it well in the future,” said Hakeem Oluseyi, a physicist and contributor to ABC News.
READ MORE | Trapped in the propeller of the Titanic: Fmr. ABC News science remembers the adventure of the submersible to the wreck
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