Clive Palmer Is Building An Exact Replica Of The Titanic
I don’t know about you but when I think about the disastrous events of the Titanic, I don’t immediately think, ‘Well, it’s about time we rebuilt that thing!’ Apparently I’m not Clive Palmer.
Eccentric Queensland billionaire Clive Palmer has commissioned a Chinese shipyard company to construct a replica of the late great Titanic ship. You just can’t make this stuff up.
The Titanic II will come to us from Palmer’s shipping company Blue Star Line – the OG Titanic was built by White Star Line – and will ambitiously feature almost the exact same features of the original ill-fated ship. The Turkish baths, the Cafe Parisien, the pools, the smoking room – even the grandiose Grand Staircase will be there. Staying true to the cruise liner’s turn-of-the-century history, there will even be first, second and third class rooms. It’s the real deal, for sure.
While the two ships will look relatively the same appearance wise, there will be some fundamental differences to the actual construction of Titanic II, seemingly to coincide with the safety regulations of today. There’ll be stabilisers to reduce roll, a bigger beam to enhance stability, higher fuel efficiency, new escape staircases as well as an additional safety deck which will house enough life boats for every passenger on board.
As you may remember, Palmer recently opened his very own Jurassic Park-themed dinosaur park named Parmersaurus which featured more than 160 animatronic dinosaurs as well as a 20 metre long T-Rex named “Jeff”. It seems as an avid film fan, Palmer is slowly making his way through 90s feature films – maybe his next advantageous project will be to replicate the diner from Pulp Fiction, or make some kind of roller coaster that includes the bus from Speed?
The Titanic II was initially slated to be completed this year, but construction has been severely delayed and is now expected to set sail in 2018. The ship was even set to run the same route as the original Titanic (from Southampton to New York City) but has since been rerouted to avoid the icebergs. Titanic II passengers will now board in Jiangsu, China and sail towards Dubai.
Check out a very inspiring video about the ship’s construction below.
All aboard.
(All images: Titanic II)
