“
Let the journey begin
.”
It was with these words that the Australian Clive Palmer relaunched his very extravagant project to build the Titanic II.
Almost ten years to the day after his first announcement, the billionaire revealed several 3D plans of the ship during a press conference organized in a hall of the Sydney Opera House.
The maiden voyage is planned for 2027. It must reproduce that of the original liner and connect Southampton to New York.
At just 70 years old in a few days, the mining industry magnate, owner of numerous hotel complexes, confirmed in a press release: construction of this incredible replica could begin early next year.
The
Titanic II
must weigh nearly 56,000 tonnes and is intended to be the “
ship of love and the pinnacle of style and luxury
”.
Three classes of passengers, as on board the original transatlantic, are planned.
The nine decks, configuration and interiors of the liner will be similar to those of the ship which sank in 1912 after hitting an iceberg.
2200 passengers and crew members were on board at the time.
Around 1500 lost their lives.
But the start of construction will surely have to wait: Clive Palmer admitted to not having yet found a shipyard.
Behind the work: one of the billionaire's companies, Blue Star Line.
In its press release, the company assures that the project still benefits from the support of Deltamarin, a Finnish ship design and maritime engineering company.
Up to $1 billion worth of work
Initial plans were revealed by Clive Palmer in 2012. THE BLUE STAR LINE / AFP
Moreover, the press conference very closely resembled the one held by Clive Palmer ten years ago, almost to the day, at the Ritz in London.
The event then launched the start of work stopped three years later, in 2015. In 2018, the Australian businessman still assured that his liner would set sail in 2022. For him, the postponement of the The inauguration is due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Clive Palmer, also a conservative politician (
he founded his own far-right party, the United Party of Australia, Editor's note, in 2013
), claimed to have the means necessary to finance
Titanic II
.
The construction of the ship should cost between 500 million and 1 billion dollars according to him.
“
It’s a lot more fun building the Titanic than sitting at home and counting my money.”
" he added.
The shipyard's calls for tenders will not be launched before June 2024 – with contracts expected to be signed at the end of December.
Before him, others wanted to tackle the legendary liner, reputed to be unsinkable, and build replicas of it – particularly after the success of James Cameron's film
Titanic
.
This was particularly the case for Sarel Gous, with a
Replica Titanic
project , abandoned in 2006. It remains to be seen whether Clive Palmer's ship will set sail.