The Australian billionaire who’s planning to build a hi-tech replica of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard has received an “overwhelming” response from people who want to be the first paying passengers.
Representatives for Clive Palmer, who in April announced a preliminary agreement with state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard to build Titanic II, said on Saturday that his shipping company has received inquiries from people in the US, Britain, Asia and South America.
The strong interest comes even though construction has not even started on the ship. Blue Star officials said they hoped to sign a final contract soon with CSC Jinling, based in Jiangsu province. They would not reveal how much Titanic II is expected to cost.
The Titanic was, at the time, the world’s largest and most luxurious ocean liner when it hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic and sank on April 15, 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.
Palmer has said the new ship will be just as luxurious as the original but also have the latest navigation and safety technology. The designers will be assisted by a historical research team as they try to make the ship look as close as possible to the original. The diesel-powered ship will even have four smoke stacks like the coal-powered original, but they will be purely decorative.