Clive Palmer has an unsinkable dream: to have a replica of the Titanic set sail sometime in 2018. The Australian businessman first began planning the project in 2012, but the original launch was delayed. Now, 106 years after the untimely end of the ship’s namesake, the Titanic II is planned to embark on its maiden voyage from Jiangsu in Eastern China to Dubai.
“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,” assures James McDonald, the marketing director of Blue Star Line. For example, the new ship will have a 2,700 lifeboat capacity for its 2,435 member crew, as opposed to the original’s lifeboat capacity of 1,178 for its 2,223 passengers.
Grand staircase
Historically, the grand staircase was reserved for first-class passengers