Inside billionaire’s Triton sub that will dive to Titanic wreck one year after OceanGate disaster

Almost a year after the Titan sub disaster, which saw an OceanGate vessel be destroyed while diving down to the wreck of the Titanic, a billionaire has said he wants to give it another shot with his own submersible.

Five lives were lost on 18 June last year when the OceanGate sub imploded, and in the days that followed there was an extensive search operation in the hopes that the Titan had simply lost power and the men on board were still alive.

However, debris was discovered and the hope of finding anyone alive soon evaporated, while a number of people came forward to say they'd had safety concerns about the sub which were ignored.

Studies and analysis into what happened to the Titan have helped paint a clearer picture of how the disaster unfolded.

However, now it sounds like somebody else wants to have a go at taking a submersible down to the wreck of the Titanic.

American billionaire Larry Connor has put $20 million (£15.7 million) into his company Triton Submarines to make him a vessel that could get down to the Titanic safely.

Where the Titan eventually failed after several trips, the Triton is aiming to succeed and I know what you're thinking about the name but the company was founded in 2008.

It's been almost a year since the doomed Titan sub was destroyed. (Becky Kagan Schott/OceanGate)

Connor told the Wall Street Journal why he was doing all of this, saying: "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."

As for the vessel itself, it's called the Triton 4000/2 Abyssal Explorer and that number is for how many metres under the sea it's safe to dive down to.

The wreck of the Titanic is 3,800 metres down, while the destroyed OceanGate sub was only certified for 1,300 metres.

Triton Submarines told The Independent that they were planning the dive for some time in 2026, and that they weren't planning on making a commercial venture out of trips to the Titanic.

This sub is for two people only, and is actually certified to dive down to the Titanic. (Triton Submarines)

The sub is meant to be flexible, with retractable gull wings that can come out if needed.

Connor said that the technology for such a vessel didn't exist five years ago, with the billionaire saying 'we didn’t have the materials and technology' to make it before.

So what does James Cameron think of all this?

The Titanic director is something of an expert on submersibles, as many discovered during the Titan sub disaster, and it turns out that he's actually worked with Triton, so they presumably get his endorsement.