Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Chinese-Built Replica of the Titanic Will Set Sail From Dubai in 2022 (fastcompany.com)

Posted by msmash on from the how-about-that dept.

Great news for Celine Dion fans and James Cameron enthusiasts: The Titanic is set to sail again. From a report: Titanic II, a replica of the original Titanic, will make its first voyage in 2022. It will have room for 2,400 passengers and 900 crew members and have the same cabin layout and decor as the original legendary ocean liner. The $500 million ship, which will be built in China, is set to make its maiden voyage from Dubai to Southhampton, U.K in 2022.

The Titanic II will then embark on global routes, starting with the exact path of the original ship, traveling from Southampton to New York, minus the small detour to the ocean bottom, presumably. Making things safer for this journey at least: enough lifeboats, a hull that's welded rather than riveted, and a period of global warming that is melting all the icebergs. (Some scientists argue however that melting ice has led to more dangerous icebergs, not fewer.) Tickets aren't on sale yet, so there's no word as to whether they are selling round trip tickets or learning from experience and starting with one-way fares.


17 of 143 comments (clear)

  1. In the new version by rossdee · · Score: 5, Funny

    The iceberg fires first

  2. Life imitates "art" by Bradmont · · Score: 4, Funny

    I think they already made a film about this.

  3. A+ Summary by NFN_NLN · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The summary hit all the classic jokes, A+ for once:

    The Titanic II will then embark on global routes, starting with the exact path of the original ship, traveling from Southampton to New York, **minus the small detour to the ocean bottom, presumably.**

    Making things safer for this journey at least: **enough lifeboats**, a hull that's welded rather than riveted, and **a period of global warming that is melting all the icebergs**.

    1. Re:A+ Summary by q_e_t · · Score: 2

      There are suggestions that the rivets were not properly heat treated and so were brittle, meaning that panels popped apart easily, leading to multiple compartments being flooded. AFAIK this is based on some evidence from the wreck and the Britannic too, but somewhat speculative. Not that it was the only issue as there were plenty of others. But some have argued if it had it the iceberg head on it might have survived, but if the rivets were too brittle, probably not.

    2. Re:A+ Summary by jabuzz · · Score: 2

      Actually it might have been. One of the trail of issues that lead to the sinking was the switch from "best best" rivets to "best" rivets as a cost saving measure. Perhaps with stronger rivets less panels on the ship might have failed and if only two water tight compartments had been damaged instead of three it would have been able to sail on to New York.

      Other issues where the lowering of the waterproof bulkheads for a sweeping staircase, in which case it would have been able to survive three compartments being flooded.

      The watchman on duty at the time of the sinking forgetting his binoculars before sailing. With them he might have seen it sooner and it could have been avoided.

      Finally slamming the ship in to full reverse and trying to steer away from the iceberg. When you go full reverse you loose your steering, so it should have been full reverse and ram the iceberg, only flooding the front compartment or just slowed down and steered away, and they might have missed it.

    3. Re:A+ Summary by twdorris · · Score: 3, Funny

      The summary hit all the classic jokes, A+ for once:

      Agreed. And I'll add my personal favorite from the article to the list.

      Tickets aren’t on sale yet, so there’s no word as to whether they are selling round trip tickets or learning from experience and starting with one-way fares.

    4. Re:A+ Summary by TeknoHog · · Score: 2

      Agreed, the summary was absolutely riveting.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  4. Re:If it's made in China by laosland · · Score: 3, Informative

    Shakedown cruise?

  5. Courtesy of Rick & Morty by Isaac-Lew · · Score: 2
    https://youtu.be/DtEiPIPC6LQ?t...

    "Uh, sir...there's *not* a problem"

  6. Re:If it's made in China by Waffle+Iron · · Score: 5, Informative

    how does it's maiden voyage start in Dubai?

    The same way that the original Titanic's maiden voyage started from Southampton even though it was built in Northern Ireland.

  7. Re:Tickets by Cederic · · Score: 2

    You can already buy "Round the world" cruise tickets for 2020 and will struggle to find anything still available for 2019, so it's not terribly abnormal.

  8. Re:I don't know..... by plopez · · Score: 2

    They couldn't get it up.

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  9. I fail to see the point... by bkmoore · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I get it that the Titanic has become iconic for an era in ocean travel, but I don't see the point in recreating Titanic as a modern business venture. She'll probably do well initially until all the hardcore Titanic fans have had their obligatory voyage. But what then? It's almost as if someone decided to revive a DC-7 or Super Constellation and offered a "Pan Am" like service from Idlewild to Charles De Gaule at 200 mph and 20,000 feet. Cool yes, but I highly doubt a solid business plan.

  10. Re:modern guidance tech enough? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Depends on who is crewing her. The US Navy in the Pacific has been pretty good at hitting things over the past couple of years.

  11. Re:It's a cheap ship by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 2

    You won't get a squadron of F-35s as a squadron is usually 12 or 24 planes and the F-35 costs around $135M. You might get a flight of F-35s which is 3 or 4 planes.

  12. Clive Palmer our local titanic nutter by labnet · · Score: 2

    Clive Palmer is a local billionaire mining magnate/nutter has been trying to get this project up since 2012.
    Famous for starting a political party that went nowhere, buying up a north Queensland nickle refinery that then went broke and buying a nice local resort in coolum that also went broke after he put garish models of dinosaurs in it.
    He also seems to love litigation... so i hope he doesn't read my post!
    I'll believe it when I see it.

    --
    46137
  13. Re:maybe if they rammed it things would of been be by adrn01 · · Score: 2

    Watched the entire vid. Rear two stacks are real, connected to the two engines. Front two contain observation platforms, with the radar and comm systems placed on top.