Triton Submarines Titanic wreck: One year after the implosion of OceanGate, Patrick Lahey and Larry Connor plan a deep-sea expedition

Less than a year after five people died aboard OceanGate’s submersible Titan, Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton Submarines, and entrepreneur Larry Connor are planning their own deep-sea expedition.

It was the search and rescue mission that captivated the world.

All five people on board the submersible OceanGate Titan died during the journey to the infamous wreck last year.

SEE ALSO | Suburban resident took a trip to the Titanic wreck with CEO Stockton Rush on OceanGate’s submersible Titan

Now, less than a year later, Lahey and Connor want to try again. Connor spoke to Good Morning America’s Will Reeve about their plans.

“Almost three-quarters of the Earth is covered by water. Given this fact, isn’t it important and worthwhile to conduct research?” said Connor.

When asked what the purpose of the planned dive was, Connor said: “To demonstrate safety. If you look at the dive boats that are DNV certified, there has never been an accident. The OceanGate vessel was not certified and never would have been.”

READ MORE | Engineer: CEO of OceanGate ignored warnings about using carbon fiber for submarines

OceanGate could not be reached for comment.

Connor says he and Lahey are designing a new, safer and certified submersible called the Explorer that will cost $13 million to $15 million. It will carry two people, have an acrylic hull and offer nearly panoramic visibility.

Five years ago, Reeve dove to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in a submersible similar to the one Connor and Lahey plan to build.

SEE ALSO | ‘Extreme danger’: Former OceanGate employee claims he was fired for raising concerns about missing submarine Titanic

When asked how confident he was that it would work, Connor said: “I’m very confident, but once we fail to meet a standard, the project is over. We will not compromise on safety. I will not go anywhere or do any diving unless I am 100 percent confident that the submersible is safe.”

Deep sea exploration carries inherent risks.

“I don’t think you should give up on technologies like deep-sea submersibles because of a single accident. If you think about the early days of space travel, we lost an entire crew. But this tells us what we did wrong in the past and how we can get it right in the future,” said ABC News contributor and physicist Hakeem Oluseyi.

READ MORE | Stuck in the Titanic’s propeller: Former ABC News science editor recalls the submersible trip to the wreck