Clive Palmer (Getty Images)
SINKING A FORTUNE: The proposed Titanic II sails past the Statue of Liberty in this artist’s rendering. Plans for Australian billionaire Clive Palmer’s dream ship have it following its namesake’s original course from Southhampton, England, to New York on her maiden 2016 voyage. (
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This Titanic will have enough lifeboats.
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer plans to build Titanic II, a cruise ship that will be a near- replica of the luxurious liner that hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic on its maiden voyage to New York in 1912.
More than 1,500 people perished on the doomed vessel — but Palmer insists he’s not tempting fate this time around.
“The Titanic was the ship of dreams. Titanic II is the ship where dreams will come true,” Palmer said yesterday at the Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum, where he showed off the blueprints.
But while the builders of the original Titanic said it was designed to be unsinkable, Palmer wouldn’t repeat that boast.
“Anything will sink if you put a hole in it,” Palmer said. “I think it would be very cavalier to say it.”
He plans to recreate the full Titanic experience, from glorious original interiors, such as the grand staircase and Turkish bath to old-time class divisions.
Like its namesake, Titanic II will have three passenger classes — and “no mingling,” Palmer said.
Depending on their “class,” passengers will be seated in the gilded dining room or at long, common tables. They’ll find period clothing in their cabins if they want to go back in time.
There will also be modern luxuries like air-conditioning and safety changes that comply with current requirements. For example, there will be enough lifeboats for everyone aboard.
Markku Kanerva, sales director at the company designing the vessel. said it would be the “safest cruise ship in the world.”
Palmer, who created the Blue Star Line company last year, said he expects very shortly to sign a contract with China’s CSC Jinling Shipyard to build the ship.
He said its maiden voyage will trace the trans-Atlantic crossing of the Titanic and could take place in 2016.
Cruise-industry analyst Jaime Katz said, “People are going to be really cautious or superstitious regarding getting on a second version of the Titanic.”