New York City, New York. Australian billionaire mining tycoon Clive Palmer has just unveiled his incredible plans for a “Titanic II” ship to be a near-replica passenger cruise ship at a well-attended news conference held at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on February 26, 2013 in New York City.
Palmer says the Titanic II will sail on her maiden passenger voyage from Southampton to New York City in late 2016.
That construction is to start in the next few months to meet the 2016 deadline, though Palmer had first come out with his plans back in April 2012.
The task of constructing the Titanic II will go to his own shipping company, the Blue Star Line on location in Chinese shipyards at the CSC Jinling Shipyard in China.
Titanic II is to have the same interior and cabin configuration though the ship will have “130 percent more life rafts than is required under regulations on life-saving devices” per Mr. Palmer. As we know, the original Titanic did not have enough life rafts and those that they did were not easily accessible!
On board the Titanic II will be all the mod-cons including fuel efficiency, satellite technology, air conditioning, gymnasiums, libraries, high-class restaurants, swimming pools and even a helicopter pad.
Has Palmer gone a little overboard with his idea?
Palmer is confident that there will be favorable response from the public as several prospective clients have offered upwards of $1 million per cabin, says CNN.
No doubt there will be several celebrities on board as the ship makes its maiden voyage in 2016, accompanied by an impressive sailing wardrobe and the sailing will get plenty of publicity with a celebrity tie-in…
Markku Kanerva, the Director of Sales at Deltmarin, a marine design company who is apparently collaborating with Palmmer, insists that Titanic II will be the safest ship in the world. But neither Palmer nor Kanerva will venture so far as to say that the new cruiser will be “unsinkable” as did the original Titanic builders in a boast that fatally backfired!
Palmer quipped that “anything will sink if you put a hole in it. I think it would be very cavalier to say it [is unsinkable],” adding “I think people in the past have done that and lived to regret it.” Let’s see if this one will hold water…
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