Australian billionaire, Clive Palmer, set to build Titanic II
Clive Palmer, one of the richest men in Australia, has unveiled plans to build a 21st-century version of the Titanic, with its first voyage from England to New York set for 2016. Palmer, a self-made mining billionaire, said he had commissioned state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to construct Titanic II with the same dimensions and similar layout to its predecessor.
“It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic but of course it will have state-of-the-art 21st century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,” Palmer said in a statement.
The announcement comes just weeks after the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic, which went down on April 15, 1912 after striking an iceberg on its first voyage, from Southampton to New York. Palmer said the new ship would be a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked on the original, which sank with the loss of 1,514 passengers and crew.
“These people produced work that is still marvelled at more than 100 years later and we want that spirit to go on for another 100 years,” he said.
Titanic was commissioned by White Star Line and was the largest liner in the world in its time. Palmer said he has established his own shipping company, Blue Star Line, with the new vessel having the same specifications as its predecessor – 270 metres long, 53 metres high and weighing some 40,000 tonnes.
Like the Titanic, Titanic II will have 840 rooms and nine decks. The design work is being done with the help of a historical research team. No figure was given on how much it would cost.
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