“Millions have dreamt of sailing on her, seeing
her in port and experiencing her unique majesty. Titanic 2 will be the ship
where those dreams come true.”
ack in 2012, billionaire Australian mining magnate
and politician Clive Palmer announced his plans to build and launch the Titanic
2. His aim was to both completely recreate the original Titanic and then have
his new vessel make the same journey that infamously left more than 1,500 dead
when the original ship hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912.
And now Palmer’s plans may finally be coming to
fruition.
According to CNN Travel, Palmer suspended his
plans three years after announcing the Titanic 2 due to an unspecified
financial dispute with the Chinese government, which is heavily involved with
the project.
But now, Palmer is making headlines once again
after announcing that the $500 million project is back and the ship will plan
to set out on its maiden voyage as soon as 2022.
As Palmer said in a recent statement:
“The ship will follow the original journey,
carrying passengers from Southampton to New York, but she will also
circumnavigate the globe, inspiring and enchanting people while attracting
unrivaled attention, intrigue and mystery in every port she visits.”
According to USA Today, the Titanic 2 trip will
begin in Dubai and sail to Southampton, England before it will embark on the
infamous votage of its namesake, to New York.
The original Titanic set sail in April 1912 after
a mild winter. Because of the unseasonably warm conditions, a high number of
icebergs drifted off from the Arctic closer to the route of the ship, which was
believed to be safe from such dangers.
Unable to control the ship’s direction and avoid
the iceberg, the Titanic crashed and sank, killing more than 1,500 passengers
and crew on board. The ship only had 20 lifeboats on board instead of its full
capacity of 64 lifeboats, which is one of the many reasons why this disaster
was as massive as it was.
Palmer says that Blue Star Line, the company
orchestrating the Titanic 2 experience, will re-create everything about the
original Titanic journey to give passengers an authentic experience —
presumably sans shipwreck
“Blue Star Line will create an authentic Titanic
experience, providing passengers with a ship that has the same interiors and
cabin layout as the original vessel, while integrating modern safety
procedures, navigation methods, and 21st century technology to produce the
highest level of luxurious comfort,” Palmer said in his statement.
The “authentic Titanic experience” includes the
option to buy first, second, and third class tickets and having the exact
number of passengers and crew on board as the original ship.
However, in his statement, Palmer cites the
original Titanic as the “ship of dreams” and states that “millions have dreamt
of sailing on her” because of the “mystery, intrigue and respect” that said
millions have for the ship.
While all that might be true, chances are that
most of the passengers aboard the forthcoming Titanic 2 — the future of which
is still by no means certain — will also be looking forward to stepping on its
bow à la Jack Dawson and screaming “I’m the king of the world!”
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