Titanic II

3D rendering of Titanic II
History
Name:	Titanic II
Owner:	Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd., Brisbane, Australia
Builder:	CSC Jinling, Nanjing[1]
Cost:	$500 million (estimated)[1]
Status:	Delayed[2]
General characteristics
Class & type:	Modern interpretation of Olympic-class ocean liner
Tonnage:	56,000 GT (estimate)
Length:	269.15 m (883 ft 0 in)
Beam:	32.2 m (105 ft 8 in)
Height:	53.35 m (175 ft 0 in)
Draught:	7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) (normal) 7.926 m (26 ft 0 in) (max)
Depth:	19.74 m (64 ft 9 in)
Decks:	10
Installed power:	2 × Wärtsilä 12V46F 2 × Wärtsilä 8L46F 48,000 kW (64,000 hp) (combined)
Propulsion:	Diesel-electric; three azimuth thrusters; (3 × 10 MW) [3]
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) (maximum)[4]
Capacity:	1,680 (double capacity); 2,435 (maximum)
Crew:	900

Titanic II is a proposed ocean liner, to be built as a modern-day replica of the Olympic-class RMS Titanic. The new ship will have a gross tonnage (GT) of 56,000 while the original ship measured about 46,000 gross register tons (GRT).^{[note 1]} The project was announced by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer in April 2012, as the flagship of a proposed cruise company Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia.^[5] The intended launch date was originally set in 2016,^[6] with the ship sailing from Southampton to New York within the same year;^[7][8] the launch has been delayed until 2018.^[9]

Previous projects

The original RMS Titanic in 1912.

The concept of a functioning replica of the Titanic has been explored several times, especially following the resurgence of interest following the release of the film Titanic in 1997. The most widely publicized project was that of South African businessman Sarel Gous in 1998.^[10]

Design stage

Clive Palmer, chairman of the Blue Star Line.

Clive Palmer first announced the project in a press conference on 30 April 2012,^[11] following the signature of a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Chinese shipyard CSC Jinling ten days before.^[12] On 19 June, it was announced that Finnish naval architecture firm Deltamarin Ltd. had been commissioned to undertake the design of the ship,^[13][14] and on 17 July a preliminary general arrangement was published.^[15]

In October 2012, Blue Star Lines announced that Titanic expert Steve Hall had been appointed as Design Consultant and Historian for the project,^[16] and that Titanic interiors expert Daniel Klistorner had been appointed as Interior Design Consultant and Historian.^[17] Hall and Klistorner had previously co-authored books such as Titanic: The Ship Magnificent and Titanic in Photographs, and gave a technical presentation at the unveiling of the designs in New York, as well as at the dinner in London.^[17] Later that month, it was announced that an advisory board would be formed to provide "suggestions and recommendations to Blue Star Line to ensure the Titanic II appropriately and respectfully pays homage to Titanic, her crew and passengers." Terry Ismay, the great-great nephew of White Star Line chairman and Titanic survivor J. Bruce Ismay will be a member of the board,^[18] as well as Helen Benziger, great-granddaughter of Titanic survivor Margaret 'Molly' Brown.^[19]

The design for the Titanic II was unveiled at worldwide launch events in Macau (China), New York (United States), Halifax (Canada), London & Southampton (United Kingdom). The gala event in New York was the official Global Launch and was held aboard the USS Intrepid in New York City on 26 February 2013.^[20][21] The gala dinner in London (UK) was held at the Natural History Museum on 2 March, and was accompanied by a display of items salvaged from the Titanic.^[22] There was also a breakfast held in Southampton on 13 March.

On 16 April 2013 it was announced that Deltamarin had been contracted for the project development phase, and would be responsible for coordinating the various parties involved in the project, including the shipyard, architects, interior designers and operations managers.^[23] The feasibility study was complete, and the project development phase was ongoing. The signature of a contract and keel laying was expected in March 2014.^[24]

Further contracts and agreements relating to the design and construction were announced later in 2013; the appointment of V.Ships Leisure as ship management services partner,^[25] and of Tillberg Design as provider of architectural and interior design services.^[26][27] On 17 July 2013, Blue Star Line announced that the classification society Lloyd's Register has joined the Titanic II project.^[28] The work carried by Lloyd's would ensure that the ship's design complied with the current SOLAS regulations.

Model testing using a 9.3-metre (31 ft) wooden model was undertaken in September 2013 at the Hamburgische Schiffbau-Versuchsanstalt (HSVA). Resistance and powering tests were carried out in a 300-metre (980 ft) towing tank.^[29][30]

In an interview in February 2014, Palmer claimed that keel laying would take place in September 2014. He cautioned that the project was "a big job", that the original Titanic took seven years to build while they have been working for only two and a half, and said that he would have liked to start sooner but "wanted to make sure we don't make any mistakes". He claimed that a selection of cabins were being constructed on land for approval, and that this would be completed by July 2014.^[31]

Design and construction

The gross tonnage of the replica will be 56,000 GT, considerably more than that of the original.^{[note 1]}

Comparison with the original RMS Titanic

The ship is designed to be as similar in internal and external appearance to the Titanic as possible. However, today's safety regulations and economic considerations dictated several major changes to the design, including:

• Greater beam for enhanced stability^[32][33]
• Welded, not riveted, hull^[32]
• Reduced draught (draft)^[32]
• Bulbous bow for higher fuel efficiency, although moderately sized compared to ships of newer designs^[32]

A preliminary comparison of the profiles of the Titanic (blue) and the Titanic II (red).

• Stabilizers to reduce roll^[32]
• Diesel-electric propulsion system with four diesel generating sets providing power for three azimuth thrusters to replace the original coal-fired boilers, steam engines and steam turbine, as well as the rudder. Also, the ship would have had 2 bow thrusters.^[32]
• An additional 'safety deck' between C and D decks for lifeboats and marine evacuation systems, with the boat deck housing replicas of the original lifeboats. Space for the deck was made by lowering decks D and below by 2.8 metres, and for the taller centre section of the safety deck, which would have housed the lifeboats, by raising the superstructure by 1.3 metres. In spite of the reduced draft, space was made for the lowered decks by removing the orlop deck, which mainly housed the boilers.^[32]
• New 'escape staircases' in addition to the original staircases, housed in the redundant boiler exhaust uptakes.^[32]
• Observation decks in the redundant first two funnels, which would have had, according to Deltamarin, tinted window coverings to blend in with the funnels' color, intended to be as close as possible to the original "White Star buff." ^[32]
• No sheer or camber,^[32] unlike the original. Pronounced sheer was a cosmetic feature of ocean liners, intended to add a graceful appearance to the ship, but made construction more difficult and therefore costly.^[34] Renderings released in February 2013 showed an upwards rake added to C Deck at the bow and stern to give a superficial appearance of sheer, although an inauthentic wedge-shaped gap has had to be added between C and D decks in these areas to produce this effect.^[35]
• A higher bridge relative to the bow, as the superstructure has been raised by 1.3 metres by the centre section of the safety deck, and also by the removal of the sheer.^[32] This negates the requirement on the original Titanic for lookouts.
• An overall increase in the height of the ship above the waterline (due to the insertion of the safety deck). However, the total height of the ship from the keel to funnels would be the same as the original, at 175 ft.^[36]
• Video of water tank testing in 2013 indicate that the stern lines of Titanic II bears little resemblance to Titanic's 1912 era counter stern.^[37]

Power plant and propulsion

For economic reasons, the steam engines and coal-fired boilers of the original Titanic were replaced with a modern diesel-electric propulsion system. The space which housed the boilers would have been used for crew quarters and ships systems. Power was to be produced by four Wärtsilä 46F medium-speed four-stroke diesel generating sets; two twelve-cylinder 12V46F engines producing 14,400 kilowatts (19,300 hp) each, and two eight-cylinder 8L46F engines producing 9,600 kilowatts (12,900 hp) each, running on heavy fuel oil and marine gas oil.^[32] Propulsion would have been by three azimuth thrusters which would also be used for maneuvering, while the replica of the rudder of the Titanic II is purely cosmetic, and would not have extended substantially below the waterline.^[32] The positioning of the azimuth thrusters necessitated the stern being made substantially more blunt than the original.^[32]

View of a corridor on the RMS Queen Mary showing the sheer. This feature was to be lost on the Titanic II.

Interior

The interior of the ship was intended to be as similar as possible to the original. Tillberg Design of Sweden was contracted to produce drawings replicating Titanic's original interiors. However, the original wooden panelling does not conform to modern fire regulations, so as in Queen Mary 2, veneers would have had to be used. Plans showed a layout broadly similar to the original, but with the third-class cabins modernised, and consideration being given to en-suite cabins throughout the ship. The room freed up by eliminating the steam boilers of the original ship would have been used for crew quarters and various services.^[32]

Criticism

The Titanic II represents the first major passenger vessel constructed in China, a country with much more experience of building cargo ships than cruise ships, and a significant investment would have been required to ensure it met the much more stringent safety requirements for passenger vessels.^[38]

The Chinese state-owned CSC Jinling shipyard has never built a large passenger vessel. In addition, it has no drydock, instead using side launching from a 200 m slipway.^[39] The 269 m Titanic II would have been the largest side-launched vessel in history by a huge margin,^[40] and would have required a significant extension to the shipyard's facilities.

Representatives from the shipyard questioned whether the ship could be completed by 2016, and emphasized that no contract had been signed.^[38]

Clive Palmer has been described as an 'eccentric billionaire' with a reputation for bizarre publicity stunts, such as the attempt to create a massive Jurassic Park style dinosaur theme park at his golf resort.^[41][42][43] It has also been noted that the publicity surrounding the Titanic II coincided with Palmer's announcement of his entry into Australian federal politics, which was made immediately following the Titanic II conference.^[44] Palmer had previously claimed that he was the target of a conspiracy involving Barack Obama, the CIA, the Rockefeller Foundation and Greenpeace, who he believed were attempting to close down his mining operation.^[45] In 2010, Palmer started a company called Zeppelin International, with the intention of making a commercially viable Zeppelin.^[46] After the plan came to nothing, it was ridiculed as the 'bizarre move of the year' by Australian business website Smartcompany.^[47] He has gained a reputation in Australia for floating ambitious and unusual business ideas which he fails to see through, and the Titanic II has been described as 'a classic Clive Palmer announcement'.^[48]

The idea of a commercialised replica of the Titanic has itself been criticised, being described as "insensitive" and "a mockery of the memory of those who died".^[49] Cunard Line, which merged with the White Star Line, stated that they "have always been very mindful and very respectful of such a tragic event [and] don't think that building a replica or a 'II' is appropriate."^[50]

Project abandonment

In June 2013, it was reported that Clive Palmer may be experiencing financial difficulties, and that his two most prominent businesses were running at a loss.^[51] This followed the leaking of a letter where he asked a Chinese business partner for a $200 million AUD payment.^[51] His net worth was believed to have fallen by $1.6 billion AUD ($1.17 billion US) in 2013.^[52]

When the project was first announced in 2012, Palmer claimed that construction would begin before the end of the year, with a 2016 launch. Following the launch events in 2013, he then claimed that construction would begin 'within a few weeks', with launch and maiden voyage still listed as 2016.^[53] In an August 2013 interview, Palmer however indicated that construction would not begin until March 2014, while still citing 2016 as the intended completion date.^[54] It was later claimed that the first cutting of steel would take place in late 2014,^[55] with launch delayed by two years to 2018.^[56]

It was reported in late March 2014 that the project was unlikely to go ahead, and that the Chinese 'had lost interest in the project'. CSC Jinling responded by saying that it would be "difficult for us to build the Titanic II but we have confidence to build it". Blue Star Line reiterated claims that the keel would be laid in Q3 2014.^[57]

In May 2014, Blue Star Line and designers Deltamarin signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese company AVIC – which owns Deltamarin – to promote the project within China, and to attempt to secure sponsors. It was reported that the first project development phase was complete, and that the evaluation and the project master plan development was ongoing.^[56] In November 2014 Deltamarin announced that their "current commission has been finalised. Blue Star Line will inform in due course about the eventual continuation of the project."^[58]

During the first half of 2015, evidence accumulated strongly suggesting that the project had been abandoned. In March 2015, Deltamarin told an Australian Broadcasting Corporation journalist that work on the Titanic II project had been halted.^[2] Also in March it was reported that no work had begun or been ordered in the Chinese shipyard identified as the likely site of construction with workers highly skeptical that the project would ever move beyond the proposal stage.^[59] On 26 March 2015, the Blue Star Line trademark was listed as "abandoned".^[60]

In September 2015, a spokesman for Palmer said the project had merely been delayed, and that the new ship would be launched in 2018 - two years later than initially planned.^[61] The vessel's maiden voyage would now be from Jiangsu, China, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where Blue Star Line was developing licensing partnerships for its Titanic II trademark.^[62][63] However, as of late 2015, Blue Star Line had made no updates to its official web site or media pages in over two years.^[64] Palmer's nickel refining business was reported to be experiencing a cash flow crisis while his charitable contributions had declined and his corporate jet was put up for sale.^[65] On February 11, 2016, CNN published an article detailing that the launch date has been pushed back to 2018.^[66]

See also

• Replica Titanic

Notes

References

External links

• Titanic-II.com
• Blue Star Line