Australian Billionaire Unveils Blueprints Of Titanic II
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An Australian billionaire is planning to build a replica of the original Titanic.
The Titanic II will follow the planned trans-Atlantic path of its doomed namesake from Southampton, England to New York City and will have the same interior and cabin layout as the original. Passengers will also wear costumes from 1912.
"This ship has so far had 40,000 people on our website for tickets, we've had 16 people that have offered to pay more than $750,000 to $1 million per cabin," said Clive Palmer who is the chairman of shipping company Blue Star Line.
Australian Billionaire Unveils Blueprints Of Titanic II
Palmer unveiled the blueprints of the massive ship at a press conference at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Tuesday.
He insists Titanic II will be the safest cruise ship in the world. The vessel will feature state-of-the-art technology and the latest navigation and safety systems, including 18 motorized life boats.
More than 1,500 people of the 2,228 passengers and crew died on April 15, 1912 after the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic during its maiden voyage. It was the world's largest and most luxurious ocean liner at the time.
The ocean liner had been called unsinkable but Palmer said, "Anything will sink if you can put a hole in it. You think you'd be very cavalier to make something like that, I think people had done that in the past and lived to regret it."
Titanic II is expected to set sail in 2016.
