Now "Made in China" Titanic

An Australian billionaire on Monday 30 april 2012 said he'll create a high-tech replica of the
Titanic using a Chinese shipbuilder, and that its maiden voyage in late 2016 will be from
England to New York, just like the original Titanic in 1912.

Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after
colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York
City, US. The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest
peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her
maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line,
she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried
 2,223 people.

Weeks after the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the original Titanic, Clive Palmer
announced Monday he has signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned
Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to build the Titanic II.

``It will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic, but ... will have state-of-the-art
21st-century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems,'' Palmer said in a
statement. He called the project ``a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked
on the original Titanic.''

More than 1,500 people died after the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic on its first
voyage. It was the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner at the time.


Palmer built a fortune on real estate on Australia's Gold Coast tourist strip before becoming
 a coal mining magnate. BRW magazine reported he was Australia's fifth-richest person last
year with an estimated fortune of more than 5 billion Australian dollars ($5.2 billion).

Palmer said at a press conference that previous attempts to build a Titanic replica failed
because proponents failed to raise enough money and commission a shipyard. The Titanic
 II is the first of four luxury cruise ships Palmer has commissioned CSC Jinling Shipyard to
 build.

Palmer did not provide a cost estimate. He said he had established a new shipping company, Blue
Star Line Pty. Ltd., and that design work for the Titanic II has begun with assistance from a
historical research team.

The diesel-powered ship will have four smoke stacks like the coal-powered original, but
they will be purely decorative.

The most obvious changes from the original Titanic would be below the water line, including
 welding rather than rivets, a bulbous bow for greater fuel efficiency and enlarged rudder and
 bow thrusters for increased maneuverability, Palmer said