An artist’s impression of the original Titanic during it’s short maiden voyage

One of Australia’s richest men, mining magnate Clive Palmer, has commissioned a Chinese state-owned company to build a replica of the H.M.S. Titanic, the ill-fated luxury liner that sank in the North Atlantic during its maiden voyage to New York early in the morning on 15 April 1912, costing 1 500 passengers their lives.

The replica will be constructed by CSC Jinling Shipyard, with a brief to look as close to the original Titanic as possible, except with modern technology and amenities throughout. Construction will begin at the shipyard in China at the end of this year for a planned launch in 2016, though no indication has been given of the cost of the project, estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of US dollars.

When asked about the possibility of the replica also sinking, Palmer responded, “It is going to be designed so it won’t sink, but, of course, if you are superstitious like you are, you never know what could happen.”

“Of course it will sink if you put a hole in it,” he joked, referring to the design flaws in the original Titanic that are thought to have contributed to the catastrophic failure of the ship when it struck the iceberg.

Palmer’s main interests are in mining, but recently his consortium has begun moving into leisure and tourism as well, with an eye on the growing Chinese market. He has also announced plans to run for the governorship of his home state of Queensland at the next federal election.

[Source: BBC News]