Full steam ahead for Titanic replica to set sail in 2018

It’s a case of full steam ahead as Titanic (Mark II) is on course to set sail in two years time.

Titanic II to set sail in 2018. Image by Nancy <I’m gonna SNAP! / CC BY 2.0

The fully-functioning replica vessel – physically identical to the original which sank on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1912 – will however take a different route by sailing from Jiangsu in eastern China to Dubai. Yahoo News reports that Clive Palmer, the Australian billionaire and his Blue Star Line company, is set to construct Titanic II, which in keeping with its unfortunate predecessor, will offer passengers first, second and third class tickets on its modern voyage.

While no final cost has been put on the construction of the new ship, it is estimated that it will fall between the £300-£400 million mark. The Daily Mail says that the new vessel will forgo modern cruise ship amenities like giant slides and robot bartenders for the more toned-down comforts of a small swimming pool, Edwardian gym and Turkish baths.

James McDonald, Blue Star Line’s marketing director said that the new ship will include modern evacuation procedures, digital navigation and satellite controls as well radar systems; in fact everything “you’d expect on a 21st century ship.” It will have a welded hull instead of a riveted one and the steam engines of yore will be superseded by a diesel-electric propulsion system. The new vessel will have lifeboat space for everyone on board unlike the shortage that faced passengers on the previous version.

The new Titanic will have a capacity to carry 2,435 passengers and 900 crew. Across its three classes, the vessels will have 840 cabins. The ill-fated original Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg that led to the death of over 1,500 passengers and crew.