An anonymous billionaire wants to be the first to dive to the Titanic since the implosion of the Titan sub killed five people.
Nobody has been to the infamous shipwreck on the floor of the North Atlantic Ocean since the OceanGate disaster shocked the world in June 2023.
But in the next few weeks, a well-known billionaire is planning to make the 12,500ft dive as the submarine industry seeks to restore public confidence in the voyages.
‘What I can tell you is that it’s a billionaire. Going down there will cost $10 million.
‘You would recognise his name’, a source told the New York Post.
‘He’ll want to make an announcement that he is the first person to go to the Titanic since the tragedy.’
Triton Submersibles is now working on a new $20million craft to be built to a higher standard than the Titan and launched next year, CEO Patrick Lahey said.
‘Besides it being a wreck of historical significance, the fact that it lies at such great depth makes it fascinating to visit’, he said.
He likened visiting the Titanic to climbing Everest.
OceanGate became the first company to offer private tours of the Titanic wreck.
The firm’s CEO, Stockton Rush, who died in the implosion, has since been accused of cutting corners, with the submersible’s hull made of fibreglass rather than sturdier titanium.
As well as Mr Rush, adventurer Hamish Harding, father and son Shahzada and Suleman Dawood, and Frenchman Paul-Henri Nargeolet died on board the sub. They had paid $250,000 to see the Titanic wreck.
Since the disaster, Oceangate has suspended its operations and currently has no full-time employees.
The wife of Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush unknowingly heard the moment her husband died when the Titan submersible imploded.
Footage released by the US Coastguard shows Wendy Rush monitoring the sub’s progress from a support ship during its doomed descent on June 18, 2023.
Chillingly, she turned and asked a colleague ‘what was that bang?’ with a smile, not realising she had just heard the moment of her husband’s death.
Last September, the US Coastguard held public hearings to question company executives over what could have gone wrong and caused the sub to implode.
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