Australian billionaire and Professor Clive Palmer has announced plans for an exact replica of the ill-fated liner the Titanic to sail the oceans again by 2016.
He and his company, Blue Star Line, held a press conference in New York on Tuesday to reveal the blue prints for the new ship, first proposed in 2012. This new vessel will be an exact replica of the first Titanic, sank by an iceberg in 1912. Only this version will be three inches longer at 883 feet and with a full compliment of lifeboats. Just in case.
This has been a while in the planning but Palmer says that the ship (concept images below) will be exact in every detail and modern conveniences like the internet are still under consideration for possible inclusion. There will be no television for example in the state rooms but there will be air-conditioning.
It is due to launch from Southampton in 2016, travelling from England to New York, carrying 2,600 passengers in 850 cabins and will employ 900 people.
Palmer believes a vacation should be a relaxing experience and he will recreate not only the facilities of the time but period costumes will be available for those that want to immerse themselves in the ambience. There will be a gym, Turkish baths, pools and the grand staircase, the jewel in the crown. Bizarrely, he is retaining the class system so first class will not mingle with others but the option to cross over into the different classes is there. This will require a change of clothes to suit the environment and help the passengers fully experience life aboard the Titanic as it was back then.
Prices for tickets have not been released but offers of $1 million dollars have already been touted.
Descendants of the passengers that died that fateful icy night have given their seal of approval to the project. Helen Benziger has said that the only reason she has supported Palmer’s project is because it will honour the passengers that both perished and survived.
Irwin Fletcher
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