Titanic II blueprints unveiled
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E-mail Agencies/China Daily, February 27, 2013
Australian mining entrepreneur Clive Palmer on Tuesday unveiled blueprints for Titanic II, a modern replica of the doomed ocean liner, although he stopped short of calling the vessel unsinkable.
The ship will largely recreate the design and decor of the fabled original, with some modifications to keep it in line with current safety rules and shipbuilding practices, and the addition of some modern comforts such as air conditioning, Palmer said at a press conference in New York.
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Australian billionaire Clive Palmer speaks at a news conference to announce plans for the building of his cruise ship Titanic II under the Blue Star Line in New York, Feb 26, 2013. According to Palmer, Titanic II, which will be a modern close replica of the original HMS Titanic which sank on her maiden voyage in the North Atlantic ocean on April 15, 1912, killing more than 1500 passengers and crew, will be privately funded and built at the CSC Jingling Shipyard in China, with her maiden voyage being from Southampton England to New York in late 2016. [Photo: Agencies] |
The three passenger classes, however, will be prevented from mingling, as in 1912, Palmer said.
"I'm not too superstitious," Palmer said when asked whether recreating a ship best known for sinking was tempting fate.
White Star Line, the operator of the original ship, had said the Titanic was designed to be unsinkable. Some 1,500 people died on Titanic's maiden voyage in 1912 from Southampton to New York after the ship collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic.
Palmer, who created the company Blue Star Line last year, declined to make a similar boast.
"Anything will sink if you put a hole in it," Palmer said. "I think it would be very cavalier to say it."
Unlike the original, Titanic II will have more than enough space in its lifeboats for every person on board and will have additional escape staircases. Markku Kanerva, sales director at Deltamarin, the Finnish company designing the ship, said it would be the "safest cruise ship in the world."
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An undated artist's rendering of the proposed cruise ship Titanic II, provided by the Blue Star Line as Australian billionaire Clive Palmer unveiled plans for his dream ship during a news conference in New York Feb 26, 2013. [Photo: Agencies] |
Palmer declined to answer questions about the project's cost. Although the Titanic was the world's largest ship in her time, she would be smaller than many of today's modern cruise ships.
"It's not about the money," Palmer said. "I've got enough money for it, I think that's all that matters."
Forbes estimated Palmer's net worth to be $795 million in 2012. He describes himself as a billionaire.
Titanic II will be built by Chinese state-owned CSC Jinling Shipyard, which is already building four ore carriers for Palmer's mining business, he said. The contract to build Titanic II has not yet been signed, Palmer said.
"Oh, probably next week, something like that," Palmer said, when asked when that would happen. "Most things I say I'll do I do."
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