Author: Mike Colagrossi / Source: Big Think
- Titanic II has reportedly resumed construction.
- The project has been resurrected after its failed attempt to begin construction in 2012.
- If the project leaves the conceptual phase, the new ship is set to follow the same route as the original Titanic as one leg of its voyage.
Construction of Titanic II is reportedly resuming following a years-long financial dispute. The Australian-based company behind the project, Blue Star Line, recently announced that Titanic II’s building hasn’t just recommenced, but that it also has plans to relocate to Paris, where it will begin recruiting “additional” employees.
“The ship will follow the original journey, carrying passengers from Southampton to New York,” said Clive Palmer, the billionaire businessmen behind the project, in an interview with MSN. “She will also circumnavigate the globe, inspiring and enchanting people while attracting unrivaled attention, intrigue and mystery in every port she visits.”
The ship is supposed to be an exact replica of the original Titanic, which famously fell to the bottom of the Atlantic amid its maiden voyage. Unlike the original ship, however, Titanic II will have a welded hull, modern navigational technology and a surplus of lifeboats. The estimated costs to resurrect the Olympic-class ship? Roughly $500 million. Since the company intends to replicate the original ship as closely as possible, it’s poised to carry more than 3,000 people.
Though there’s been press releases sent out by the company, and multiple media outlets have been parroting the words within them, the project’s long delay may suggest it’s a flop.
Nevertheless, let’s look into the history of this wayward endeavor. Is it more than hubris mingled with a dreamy, misplaced romancing of a century-old catastrophe?Is Titanic II actually being built?
Original Titanic. Image source: Wikimedia Commons
On September 27, 2018 the Blue Star Line company announced on their website that the project would recommence. This is the first anyone had heard of anything in any official capacity from the website — it had not been updated since May of 2014. Blue Star Line has also not been active on any other projects in the interim.
Currently, there is no information on ticket pricing…
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