Titanic II News

At the end of September 2018, Australian billionaire, Clive Palmer, said that he was resurrecting his plan to build a replica of the ill-fated RMS Titanic.

His work on the Titanic II project was suspended in 2015 because his flagship company Mineralogy, was in dispute with Chinese government. However now he says his plans are back on track.

It’s an exciting idea, or a tasteless one, depending on your viewpoint. However, a lot has changed since 1912, when the original RMS Titanic was launched on her maiden ill-fated Transatlantic crossing. In short you CANNOT actually build a replica Titanic today.

So where do I begin to explain?

• The original Titanic was built by ‘Harland & Wolf’, in Belfast. However the UK no longer builds ocean liners or big cruise ships.

• Unusually Palmer said that he plans to use the Chinese Jinling shipyard (TBC) China builds many commercial ships, but not generally cruise ships. Titanic is not a very big ship (56,000 gt) by modern standards. However, It will be interesting to see if they can handle such a demanding newbuild, especially a very ornate interiors.

• Titanic had a riveted hull. Nobody rivets ships hulls these day, they are all welded.

• Water tank tests of Titanic’s original hull shape, have been carried out. Modern maritime safety regulations determined that Titanic II’s hull needs to be a couple of meters wider for stability and have  a reduced draft.

• The Titanic had steam engines powered by coal. Steam engines have been replaced by diesel engines/generators/electric Azipods,  and coal has now been replaced heavy fuel oil (HFO).

• Titanic II’s engines will be electric ‘pods’ powered by diesel generators. These are highly manoeuvrable and the propellers will pull her through the water, rather than push. The original rudder is not needed,  so there will be a fake one. See separate page about propulsion – HERE
• Titanic II will have modern ‘stabilisers’ to prevent the ship excessively ‘Rolling’  in rough seas, for passenger comfort. The original Titanic did not have this innovation.

• Everybody knows that Titanic did not have enough lifeboats. Modern maritime safety regulations (SOLAS) demand that al l modern ships, including the Titanic II,  have to have enough lifeboats. They will also need to be of a modern design, conforming to modern safety standards. Today’s lifeboats are enclosed and not open to the elements, like the  Titanic original open rowing boats, were. The Titanic II’s 18 modern lifeboats (orange), located on a new Safety Deck. More than any new innovation, these will significantly change the external appearance of the Titanic II. See separate ‘Safety Deck’ page – HERE.

• Titanic II’s  internal layout will require more staircases and emergency exits, to meet modern safety regulations than she had originally.

• Modern cruising is associated with luxury and luxury accommodation. The Titanic had many third-class (steerage) cabins. These were  located  in the less desirable parts of the ship, deep within the hull, often very forward and at the stern, near the steerage mechanism. They had no windows and were susceptible to noise, heat, fumes and vibration. However, they were the cheapest. These cabins accommodated up to 1,100 passengers. They were very minimalist and often had multiple bunk beds. Even worse, there were only a few toilets and one bath, to serve  hundreds of  ‘steerage’ passengers . However the living conditions and food was actually better than these passengers were generally use to. However the steerage accommodation cannot be  faithfully re-created on-board the Titanic II as few modern cruise passengers would tolerate it. See separate accommodation page – HERE.

• The original Titanic used many exotic woods for her décor,  fixture and fittings, such as the Oak ‘Grand Staircase. However solid wood no longer meets modern maritime fire/safety regulations. Veneers must be used instead.
• The original segregation between the three classes, including locked gates, would of course not be acceptable today, morally or in terms of safety.

• The original Titanic II had one small indoor pool. There  were no pools or hot tubs on a sun deck. Modern passengers would almost certainly miss these features.

• The original Titanic did not have air-conditioning of course, but Titanic II will.

• Titanic II will not have TV’s in cabins – after all it had not been invented. This will not be popular with many modern passengers. There was little formal entertainment on-board Titanic II apart from some classical musicians.

• The original Titanic did not have a Theatre, Casino or shops.

Palmer’s design does actually includes a new deck called a ‘safety deck’, that accommodates the modern lifeboats, shops, a casino and a show lounge. None of these facilities were available on the original Titanic of course.

One of Palmer’s rendering (below) shows the modern navigation ‘bridge’ behind a re-creation of the original bridge, for passengers to visit. This looks very impractical. The bridge will also be mounted higher than onboard the original RMS Titanic, because it did not offer a clear view over the ships bow.  See the separate page about the bridge – HERE

Palmer also suggested that he would make passengers dress up in period costumes. Can you imagine embarkation requiring dressing rooms and costumes of various sizes for around 2,500 passengers – this is totally impractical.  Mind you T-shirts, shorts, trainers and baseball caps on deck would seem somewhat out of place onboard this classic vessel.

However, before I am branded a kill-joy, it should be possible to build a replica Titanic that generally looks like the original, with a similar internal layout, décor and ambience.

The modern technology required could be largely hidden behind the scenes.  For example Palmer’s design shows that the modern radar will be hidden in dummy funnels (see rendering below). There was even talk of hiding the modern lifeboats behind doors, in the hull, with dummy ones on deck to maintain the ships original appearance.

So in conclusion, Titanic II faces many design challenges of combining a hundred+ year old design, with modern thinking and practices.

When you consider all of the changes that need to be made to make a Titanic II compliant with modern maritime regulations and modern customer requirements, the recreation would not be a ‘replica’ at all.

However, I must admit that I do find the idea a very exciting!

Malcolm Oliver

See more Titanic II information – HERE