Billionaire seeks to reignite deep-sea Titanic dreams year after OceanGate tragedy

Another billionaire is out on a mission to restore faith in deep-sea exploration, just a year after the tragedy of OceanGate.

Patrick Lahey, the CEO and co-founder of Triton Submarines wants to restore people’s faith in submersibles.

Patrick, along with deep-sea explorer and billionaire real estate investor Larry Connor, is developing a new vessel capable of reaching the depths of the Titanic. The duo want to prove the safety of submersible trips.

“This tragedy had a chilling effect on people’s interest in these vehicles,” Lahey told The Wall Street Journal.

“It reignited old myths that only a crazy person would dive in one of these things.”

“We had a client, a wonderful man,” he added. “He called me up and said, ‘You know, what we need to do is build a sub that can dive to [Titanic-level depths] repeatedly and safely and demonstrate to the world that you guys can do that, and that Titan was a contraption.’”

Last year's OceanGate disaster claimed five lives. The tragic incident has cast a shadow over the industry.

In June 2023, five people, including Pakistani-British businessman Shahzada Dawood, his son Suleman, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush, embarked on a Titanic expedition aboard their submersible, Titan. However, the vessel lost connection after an hour and 45 minutes. Soon afterwards, a rescue operation was kicked-started. However, after four days, it was discovered that the Titan had imploded, tragically killing all on board.

Connor is determined to show the world that deep-sea exploration can be safe and life-changing.