A new Titanic submersible to be funded by another US billionaire

An American billionaire is planning to take a deep-sea submersible* to Titanic depths to prove the underwater vehicle industry is now safer in the wake of the OceanGate vessel that imploded* last year.

US real estate investor Larry Connor of Dayton, Ohio, said he and Triton Submarines co-founder Patrick Lahey will descend more than 3.7km to the shipwreck site in a two-person submersible – despite the 2023 tragedy in which five lives were lost.

Triton claims to have developed the world’s safest and most advanced “luxury submersibles.”

“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,” Mr Connor told the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Lahey has designed a $AUD30 million vessel dubbed the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal* Explorer, which Mr Connor said could carry out the voyage repeatedly.

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

The entrepreneurial* duo said they wanted to prove that the trip can be done safely – even though on 18 June 2023, Titan, a submersible operated by the American tourism and expeditions* company OceanGate, imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

That disaster, caused by engineering* weaknesses in the vessel, claimed the lives of all passengers on board, including OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

A few days after the tragedy, Mr Connor called Mr Lahey and urged him to build a better sub.

“(He 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*,’” Mr Lahey told the Wall Street Journal.

Mr Connor did not say when the maiden* voyage of the new submersible would take place.

Mr Lahey questioned OceanGate’s safety standards, calling Mr Rush’s tourism approach “quite predatory*.”

Industry experts and a whistleblowing* employee had previously come forward with fears about the safety of the vessel.

OceanGate had not certified* the vessel through credible* safety organisations such as the American Bureau of Shipping and Det Norske Veritas in Europe.

Mr Rush, billionaire explorer Hamish Harding, French Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son, Sulaiman, all died instantly when the Titan suffered a catastrophic implosion under the pressure of the Atlantic Ocean. The submersible was lost somewhere near the site of the ocean liner that went down on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912.

The sinking of the Titanic after it struck an iceberg claimed the lives of an estimated 1517 people and has been an enduring source of worldwide fascination ever since.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• submersible: something that can move, operate or function underwater
• imploded: collapsed inward in a sudden, violent manner as a result of external pressure
• abyssal: found in the deepest parts of the ocean
• entrepreneurial: has qualities needed to start a new business venture and accepts the risks
• expeditions: organised journey or voyage for a specific purpose like exploration or science
• engineering: the work involved in designing and constructing engines, machinery or structures
• contraption: an awkward, strange device a gadget not to be taken seriously
• predatory: inclined or intended to injure or exploit others for personal gain or profit
• whistleblower: someone with inside knowledge of an organisation who reports misconduct or dishonest or illegal activity
• certified: having met the official requirements that are needed
• credible: able to believed or trusted

EXTRA READING

Titanic wreckage in ocean floor close-up

Knocking sounds from Titan sub gave rescuers hope

Titanic find was part of top-secret war mission

QUICK QUIZ

1. To what depth do Mr Connor and Mr Lahey intend to travel to reach the Titanic site?
2. How much will the vessel cost?
3. What caused the Titan disaster last year?
4. When did the Titanic go down?
5. Where is the wreckage located?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What could really make a difference?
How do you think Larry Connor could spend his $30 million in ways that would really make a difference, instead of on a submersible? Write a list. Next to each item, write a convincing argument that might persuade Larry to change his mind and spend the money on that instead.

Time: allow at least 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability

2. Extension
What are the conditions in the deepest parts of the ocean that make it such a dangerous place to travel? Use your research skills to find out and create a poster that would help younger kids understand this.

Time: allow at least 60 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Science, Geography

VCOP ACTIVITY
Adjectives
An adjective is a describing word. They are often found describing a noun. Start by looking at the words before the nouns.

Search for all the adjectives you can find in the article.

Did you find any repeat adjectives or are they all different?

Extension:
Pick three of your favourite adjectives from the text and put them in your own sentences to show other ways to use them.

Have you used any in your writing?