Winslet & DiCaprio in “Titanic”

Yes, Titanic II is set to launch in less than two years on the open sea. A replica of the world’s most famous “unsinkable” ship is under construction with a maiden voyage planned for 2018. Of note, it’ll carry enough lifeboats for every passenger and its hull will be welded, not riveted. James McDonald, global marketing director of Palmer’s company, Blue Star Line said,

“The new Titanic will of course have modern evacuation procedures, satellite controls, digital navigation and radar systems and all those things you’d expect on a 21st century ship.”

The new ship will feature the same class categories of passengers – from the first-class movers and shakers to the hoi polloi in third class, where poor Leonardo DiCaprio was berthed in the movie classic. But unlike the original, built in Belfast, Ireland, the Titanic II is now under construction by the in Jiangsu, China.

And its maiden voyage will not be from Southampton to New York, but from China to Dubai. Some of the dead passengers’ relatives have criticized the project for a new Titanic, but Blue Star has reportedly been flooded with requests for tickets – with some offering up to about $900,000 for a spot on its maiden voyage.

RMS Titanic
Construction timeline: 1909-1912
Cost: $7.5million (£1.5million)
Maiden voyage: April 10, 1912
Passengers: 2,223
Crew: 885
Length: 882ft 9in
Height: 174ft
Lifeboat capacity: 1,178
Decks: 9
Maximum speed: 24 knots
Construction company: Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast

Titanic II
Construction timeline: TBD
Cost: TBD
Maiden voyage: Scheduled for 2018
Passengers: 2,435
Crew: 900
Length: 885ft
Height: 174ft
Lifeboat capacity: 2,700
Decks: 9
Maximum speed: 24 knots
Construction company: CSC Jinling Shipyard in Jiangsu, China

RMS TITANTIC
It sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on April 15, 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

More than 1,500 people died when the ship, which was carrying 2,224 passengers and crew, sank under the command of Captain Edward Smith.

Some of the wealthiest people in the world were on board, including property tycoon John Jacob Astor IV, great grandson of John Jacob Astor, founder of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim, heir to his family’s mining business, also perished, along with Isidor Straus, the German-born co-owner of Macy’s department store.

The ship was the largest afloat at the time and was designed in such a way that it was meant to be ‘unsinkable’.

It had an on-board gym, libraries, swimming pool and several restaurants and luxury first class cabins.

There were not enough lifeboats on board for all the passengers due to out-of-date maritime safety regulations.

After leaving Southampton on April 10, 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and Queenstown in Ireland before heading to New York.

On April 14, 1912, four days into the crossing, she hit an iceberg at 11:40pm ship’s time.

James Moody was on night watch when the collision happened and took the call from the watchman, asking him ‘What do you see?’ The man responded: ‘Iceberg, dead ahead.’

By 2.20am, with hundreds of people still on board, the ship plunged beneath the waves, taking many, including Moody, with it.

Despite repeated distress calls being sent out and flares launched from the decks, the first rescue ship, the RMS Carpathia, arrived nearly two hours later, pulling more than 700 people from the water.

It was not until 1985 that the wreck of the ship was discovered in two pieces on the ocean floor. –Daily Mail