Replica 'Titanic II' due to set sail in 2018

[Raychel]

Replica 'Titanic II' due to set sail in 2018
Posted on Thursday, 11 February, 2016




Would you book passage on the Titanic II ? Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Karl Beutel
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer has built a full-size replica of the famous 'unsinkable' ship.
Constructed by Palmer's company Blue Star Line, the Titanic II has been designed to replicate the original vessel, including all of its interior rooms, in almost every single way.

Originally planned back in 2012, the ship's development has been progressing well and the company has now revealed that the Titanic II will be officially setting sail in 2018.

Passengers will be offered exactly the same first, second and third class booking options as those who boarded the ill-fated original and every room and cabin has been recreated in incredible detail.

The company has even forsaken modern facilities found aboard conventional cruise ships in favor of authenticity by ensuring that everything looks and operates exactly as it did on the original.

According to James McDonald, Blue Star Line's global marketing director, the only exception to this rule will be the inclusion of more lifeboats and other modern safety measures.

"The new Titanic will of course have modern evacuation procedures, satellite controls, digital navigation and radar systems and all those things you'd expect on a 21st century ship," he said.

Despite the notorious reputation of the original Titanic's maiden voyage, the Titanic II has been generating a lot of interest with some passengers willing to pay up to $1 million for a ticket.

Let us hope that things go better for them than they did for those aboard its predecessor.




http://nypost.com/2016/02/10/titanic-ii-to-set-sail-in-2018-for-people-who-arent-superstitious-at-all/

[Raychel]

Titanic II to set sail in 2018 for people who aren't superstitious at all
February 10, 2016

Titanic II is set to launch in less than two years — not in movie theaters, but on the open sea.

A replica of the world’s most famous “unsinkable” ship — which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912, killing 1,503 people — is under construction, with a maiden voyage planned for 2018.
Australian billionaire Clive PalmerPhoto: Warzer Jaff

Australian tycoon and politician Clive Palmer — not J. Bruce Ismay — is at the helm of the ambitious project to faithfully recreate the luxury ship, which will be about 13 feet wider to meet current regulations.

More importantly, it will carry enough lifeboats for every passenger and its hull will be welded, not riveted, just in case it comes across a rogue iceberg, the Belfast Telegraph reports.

“The new Titanic will of course have modern evacuation procedures, satellite controls, digital navigation and radar systems and all those things you’d expect on a 21st-century ship,” James McDonald, global marketing director of Palmer’s company, Blue Star Line, told the paper.

The new nine-deck ship will be 885 feet long, about two more than her doomed predecessor, 174 feet high and have a maximum speed of 24 knots. She will accommodate 2,400 passengers — 177 more than the RMS Titanic.
Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from “Titanic” in 1997.Photo: 20th Century Fox Film Corp./Everett Collection

It also will feature the same categories of passengers — from the first-class movers and shakers to the hoi polloi in third class, where poor Leonardo DiCaprio was berthed in the classic movie.

Unlike the Belfast-built original, the Titanic II is under construction by the CSC Jinling Shipyard in Jiangsu, China.

Its maiden voyage will not be from Southampton to New York, but rather from Jiangsu, China, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the paper reported.

Some of the dead passengers’ relatives have criticized the plans for a new Titanic, but Blue Star has reportedly been flooded with requests for tickets — with some offering up to about $900,000 for a spot on the first trip.
Filed under titanic
http://nypost.com/2016/02/10/titanic-ii-to-set-sail-in-2018-for-people-who-arent-superstitious-at-all/