It’s been 104 years since the R.M.S. Titanic first set sail from Southampton U.K…and then collided with an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on its way to New York City.
And after years of speculations and delays, it has now been confirmed that the Titanic will set sail again.
Blue Star Line, an Australian-based company owned by billionaire Clive Palmer, is planning to recreate the original Titanic ship, except with modern amenities and safety standards.
The ship will feature nine floors with 840 cabins, which will accommodate 2,400 passengers and roughly 900 crew members. This version will also be a few meters wider to provide additional stability.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the designers are doing their best to create a near-replica of the original ship, but for safety standards some features will have to go. This will include the wood-panelled walls as they won’t pass modern safety regulations and will have to be replaced with veneers.
Blue Star Line has also confirmed that some of the elements will be retained purely for historical significance but will not be functional.
This time around, the vessel will meet modern safety and design requirements, with a welded hull instead of a riveted one, diesel-electric propulsion instead of steam engines, stabilizers and high-tech navigation. There will also be air conditioning and enough lifeboats for all.
“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, the global marketing director of Palmer’s company Blue Star Line, told the Belfast Telegraph.
According to The Independent, the ship will set off on its maiden voyage from Jiangsu, in Eastern China to Dubai, UAE in 2018.
In the extremely rare case that something does go wrong with this ship, we can only hope they make a door big enough for both Kate AND Leo this time. Even Kate agrees last time was bullish*t.