The centenary of the Titanic tragedy has just passed and it saw a lot of commemorative activities including a journey by ship on the same route taken by Titanic. The ship reached the spot where Titanic sank exactly 100 years ago. There were auctions of Titanic memorabilia and they were all snapped up at record prices. And now the centenary celebrations have climaxed with the announcement made by Clive Palmer. An Australian mining billionaire, Clive has commissioned a state owned Chinese company to re-create a 21st century version of Titanic. The ship will be named Titanic II.
The MOU has been signed with the ship builder and the construction of the ship is expected to start by the end of next year. The Titanic re-creation plan had been doing the rounds for some time now but the plans have now been confirmed by Clive Palmer. He explained that the design of the new ship will be as close to the original as possible. However, the latest state of the art technology will be incorporated in the ship to make it more efficient and safe. White Star Line authorities had also claimed that Titanic was the safest ship and would never sink when it set sail for the first and last time in 1912.
Titanic II is planned to be as luxurious as the original vessel. All the modern luxury amenities will be incorporated in the ship. What will differentiate the new ship from the old is the latest in safety and navigation systems. Mr. Palmer lost his cool when pestered by the media if the new ship would meet the same fate as the 1912 original. “Of course, it will sink if you put a hole in it†he retorted. In the last hundred years global warming has made the North Atlantic waters rather warm and the chances of ice bergs floating in the sea are rather bleak. Titanic II is expected to be ready to sail on the same ill fated route between London and New York by late 2016. The cost of the project is not known as yet but I am sure Mr. Palmer must have ear marked a substantial sum for the unique project.
Via: bbc
