Titanic replica plans unveiled by billionaire
Plans underway to construct the $200-million ship at a Chinese shipyard
The Australian financier behind a plan to build a full-scale version of the Titanic says the project is on track to have its maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York soon.
Clive Palmer, the Australian billionaire who captured the world's attention last April with his far-fetched plan to rebuild and sail the ill-fated ship, revealed at a press event in New York City Tuesday that plans are underway to construct the $200-million ship at a Chinese shipyard.
And tens of thousands of people, he claims, have come forward as eager customers, some willing to pay as much as $1 million for a ticket on the first trip.
Interest has been so strong that "we've probably had half a dozen people already offering more than $1 million to get on the maiden voyage" said James McDonald, global marketing director of Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd.
Blue Star Line is not affiliated with White Star Line, the original maker of the Titanic, which was subsequently bought by Cunard. For its part, Cunard says it will never make any vessel with anything resembling Titanic in its name.
The maiden voyage is tentatively slated for February 2016, and will take passengers from Southampton to New York City, just as the original Titanic had tried to do before hitting an iceberg and sinking in the North Atlantic.
"I've got the money so I can do it," Palmer said. "I can build the Titanic …we're going ahead to do it."
If the claims of $1-million offers for tickets are true, it's an exponential increase from the amount of money the original voyagers paid. Tickets on the first Titanic went for about $4,000 in 1912, or roughly $50,000 in today's dollars with inflation factored in.
Blue Star officials say they are hammering out the final details of a contract with CSC Jinling, based in Jiangsu province, to build the ship.
The Titanic was the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner when it hit an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
Roughly 700 people survived, most of who were rescued by another ship that responded to the Titanic's distress call, the RMS Carpathia. (The Carpathia was later sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coast in 1918.)
Palmer says the Titanic II will remain very true to the original, with decorations, public spaces and interiors looking very much like the original's, but improved with modern safety and comfort amenities.
The diesel-powered ship will even have four smoke stacks like the coal-powered original, but they will be purely decorative.
Palmer built his fortune in real estate and coal. Australia's BRW magazine estimated his net worth last year at $4 billion, although Forbes puts it at $895 million.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/02/26/business-titanic-launch.html
what are people smoking these days?
Imagine, a voyage where people walked around and actually talked to each othe
Made in China? Well if your trying to replicate a ship involved in a disaster that would be a good place to build it.
Honestly the idea seems ghoulish to me. Will we have Challenger shuttle replica trips in 50 years?
have to admit, at the risk of sounding flippant and frivolous, that I think this a very cool idea. I've been a "Titanic buff" ever since Ballard et al finally found the wreck in 1985 when I was eight-years old. In this time of gaudy cruise ships, it would be neat to bring back one of the grand old classic ocean liners that used to dominate the North Atlantic in the days of old. I'll likely not be able to afford to go on a crossing, but it would be cool just to see it. And for those saying it is a waste of money, it is not your money. It is his, and he is free to spend it as he wishes. Also, I'm quite certain that the new plans will extend the watertight doors up past E deck, as we discovered that it could be potentially damaging if a certain number of compartments were flooded. A long shot, yes, but sadly, all to possible. Cheers.
There is no need to call it Titanic II.
Steamship lines through the 20th Century simply named ships the same as their predecessors.
For example, I crossed the Atlantic on Cunard's "Saxonia" in the 1950s. There had been two of the same name before, and today I believe Cunard is still operating a freighter by that name.
Just call it Titanic.
Ironicwarcriminal posted:why would anybody go on a cruise in the north atlantic
to recreate the majestic voyages of yesteryear
discipline posted:lol in the video the billionaire says that one of the benefits of global warming is that there aren't so many ice burgs in the north atlantic nowadays
aren't there more undocumented/rogue icebergs with global warming breaking up the huge ice shelves?
it would be cool if Nu-Titanic, on its maiden voyage to Nu-York, was felled by an illegal iceberg created by the systemic pressures of heat-capitalism
innsmouthful posted:i read about this in forbes earlier today. he wants period costumes and people to eat and socialize with their proper "caste" lol
My Steampunk Cruise
swampman posted:you ppl have never wondered what the world would be like if the titanic hadn't sunk?
Thats a BADAS video game. Let's watch
Ironicwarcriminal posted:why would anybody go on a cruise in the north atlantic
to get from southampton to new york, but not right away
mongosteen posted:cruises are the most petit-bourgeois thing in the world
snowmobiles
stegosaurus posted:mongosteen posted:cruises are the most petit-bourgeois thing in the world
snowmobiles
The rural north is full of nothing but petit bourgeois?
mongosteen posted:cruises are the most petit-bourgeois thing in the world
hmm sort of. but not really.
discipline posted:lol in the video the billionaire says that one of the benefits of global warming is that there aren't so many ice burgs in the north atlantic nowadays
ya i think there would be more because the melting causes parts of the iceshelf to break off and float away~
hey posted:stegosaurus posted:mongosteen posted:cruises are the most petit-bourgeois thing in the world
snowmobiles
The rural north is full of nothing but petit bourgeois?
im just talking locally. in places where we have cars and roads and shit
Edited by thirdplace ()
stegosaurus posted:mongosteen posted:
cruises are the most petit-bourgeois thing in the world
snowmobiles
Don’t have much snow here but the equivalent jetskis seems more like a labor aristocracy thing
thirdplace posted:atvs and snowmobiles can and are used for good productive work but the vast majority of them are (very expensive and wasteful) toys
How is fun possibly a ‘waste’ please explain
clanzy posted:it's a wondrous world. soon they'll develop snowmobiles that can work on other things, like grass and sand. soon all the world will live under the benevolent suzerainty of the ur-snowmobile
I want one that goes under the snow with periscope.
clanzy posted:it's a wondrous world. soon they'll develop snowmobiles that can work on other things, like grass and sand. soon all the world will live under the benevolent suzerainty of the ur-snowmobile
TG posted:snowmobiles actually bring the joys of winter sports to a wider and less affluent audience. back country skiing is more fun than riding groomed runs at a resort, and you also save the $100+/day on lift tickets. most of it is also done on public lands. way to hate the poor.
don't preach to me florida man
thirdplace posted:TG posted:snowmobiles actually bring the joys of winter sports to a wider and less affluent audience. back country skiing is more fun than riding groomed runs at a resort, and you also save the $100+/day on lift tickets. most of it is also done on public lands. way to hate the poor.
don't preach to me florida man
next thing you know youll start arguing that airboats are an unnecessary extravagance, as if the common man doesnt deserve to explore the swamps and marshes
