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| The RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912. |
Will the Titanic Sail Again?
By Olivia French
“Every night in my
dreams, I see you, I feel you…” Celine Dion’s famous My
Heart Will Go On lyrics not only conjure a mental image of everlasting
love, but also one of a giant sinking boat thanks to the movie Titanic.
This
April 14, the iconic song will be playing in lots of households in honor of the 102nd anniversary
of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, a tragedy that cost the lives of 1,500
people in the icy waters of the Atlantic due to an iceberg.
“Hundreds
of books have been written about Titanic, both fiction and non-fiction because
another fascinating aspect of this sinking is that there are always new facts
to be gleaned, new snippets of poignant detail from that cold night,” said
Veronica Scott in a special
for USA Today.
It
is true that over the years we have faced a public fascination with the
infamous sinking.
In
addition to multiple movies and novels written about the ship, museum exhibits
and even television shows have been formed in remembrance of the ocean liner.
But
what happens when people try to test fate, and build the RMS Titanic II?
Cruise
company Blue Star Line has decided to create a working replica, named the
Titanic II, with a set launch date in 2016. The ship, weighing 300 million
pounds, would feature 840 rooms and nine decks, just like its predecessor.
The cruise is intended to take the same route
as the original Titanic, beginning its journey in Southampton and finishing in
New York.
Announced
just weeks after the original’s 100th anniversary of sinking, the
Titanic II is the $195 million brainchild of Australian billionaire Clive Palmer.
"It
will be every bit as luxurious as the original Titanic,” said Palmer in an
official statement. “But of course it will have state-of-the-art 21st-century
technology and the latest navigation and safety systems."
The cruise liner
is a replica of the original, including the same three-class passenger system
and similar dining rooms and restaurants. The same brandy, beer and champagnes
that were served on the original ship will also be available for passengers to
enjoy and to enhance the historical atmosphere.
The
proposed voyage has created a lot of buzz around the globe for young and old,
both positive and negative.
“It’s
not only one of my favorite movies, but it’s one of my favorite mysteries of
history, so it’d be awesome to relive the Titanic’s intended voyage,” said High
Point University junior Rebecca Woodley-Oliver.
However,
some are not as optimistic about the voyage as Woodley-Oliver.
“There’s
no way you could make me get on that ship,” said Dillon Seng, also a junior at
HPU. “I wouldn’t want to tempt fate.”
Though some are
excited for its maiden voyage, and ready for it to set sail, the project has
been stalled for several reasons.
Shipbuilding
was supposed to start last year, but it has still not commenced due to doubt
and hesitancy to start from the proposed Chinese shipbuilders, CSC Jinling. However,
Director Biao Ge has remained hopeful about the project.
Ge told the Herald
Sun that it would be “difficult for us to build the Titanic II but
we have confidence to build it".
While the actual
building has not yet started, offers for tickets have already been pouring in
to Blue Star Lines, with some
offers exceeding $1 million.
Actual ticket
sales are set to run either late this year or in early 2016.
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| A computer-generated image of the proposed Titanic II. Source: Blue Star Line Cruises |
Other tragic transportations:
The Hindenburg
This airship caught fire on May 6, 1937, killing 35.
The Lusitania
Another ocean liner, the RMS Lusitania sunk on June 9, 1904, killing 1,195.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
This 239-passenger flight went missing on March 8, 2014. It has still not been recovered.
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