A fully functioning replica of the original Titanic is to set sail in 2018
The Titanic sunk in 1912 (Picture: Getty Images)
More than a century after the RMS Titanic was lost to the depths of the North Atlantic, a fully-functioning replica will set sail.
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer and his company, Blue Star Line, will launch the Titanic II, a ship physically identical to its predecessor but for a number of small changes made to satisfy modern safety requirements.
And, just like the original, the 270-metre-long, 53-metre-high Titanic II will offer first, second and third-class tickets.
MORE: Junior doctors go on strike today after last-ditch talks fail to reach an agreement
Clive Palmer, chairman of Mineralogy Pty, center, speaks to members of the media during a group interview at the Palmer Coolum Resort in Coolum, Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012. Palmer expects to receive $500 million a year in royalties from Citic Pacific Ltd.'s $8 billion iron ore mine in Western Australia once it reaches full production. Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Clive Palmer’s replica will set off from Jiangsu in 2018 (Picture: Getty Images)
‘The new Titanic will of course have modern evacuation procedures, satellite controls, digital navigation and radar systems and all those things you’d expect on a 21st century ship,’ James McDonald, marketing director of Blue Star Line, told the Independent.
Titanic II’s maiden voyage will be not from Southampton to New York, but from Jiangsu in eastern China to Dubai.
The original Titanic infamously sank on its maiden voyage in 1912 following a collision with an iceberg in the North Atlantic. More than 1,500 passengers and crew died.