It was 104 years ago when the Titanic took sail back on April 10, 1912 in Southampton, NY with 3,300 people total aboard. Everyone in the world had no idea this deemed “unsinkable ship,” with 1,500 passengers, crew and some of the richest people in the world would reach their demise on April 15, 1912 on the RMS Titanic.
“I thought it would be a safe steamship, and I had heard it would not sink,” Titanic Survivor Margaret Devaney said.
The word had been circulating about the re-make of The Titanic, or Titanic II, for a long time. In fact, it was explored many times after the famous movie “Titanic” was released back in 1997, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Many different interpretations and ideas were proposed, such as the inclusion of a disco, a pool deck, etc., but these were just rumors.
Finally, on April 30, 2012, Clive Palmer, Australian Billionaire, announced the project and that Finnish naval architecture firm Deltamarin Ltd. had been commissioned to undertake the design of the ship, with the flagship of a proposed cruise company called Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia. The total cost of rebuilding the huge ship would cost at the bare minimum about $500,000,000. This price may seem quite expensive, but for a billionaire, it may actually be rather reasonable and a great investment as well.
He commissioned Olsen Designs to design the ship, advised by Harland and Wolff technical services, who assessed the practicality of the project, Calcott Anderson is to design the interior, and Titanic expert Steve Hall, will be the design consultant and historian for the project. Now, since this ship has such a tragic history, it was announced that an advisory board would be formed to provide suggestions and recommendations to Blue Star Line to ensure the Titanic II appropriately and respectfully pays homage to Titanic, her crew and passengers. Terry Ismay, the great-great nephew of White Star Line chairman and Titanic survivor J. Bruce Ismay will be a member of the board, as well as Helen Benziger, great-granddaughter of Titanic survivor Margaret “Molly” Brown.
As the original Titanic was made in seven years, the Titanic II was announced to originally set sail in 2016, giving them four years to construct the ship and prepare for voyage. Its starting location will be China with the destination being Dubai. Since then, this date has been moved back to 2018. However, the blame cannot be placed on them for taking their time, and making this ship as safe as possible for those aboard, so we don’t repeat history. Would you want to be aboard?