On the surface — and I’ve used that phrase deliberately — it would seem like the worst idea ever.
But, according to news reports, the project to build an (almost) exact replica of the Titanic is now going full-steam ahead.
The Titanic II, spearheaded by Australian businessman Clive Palmer and drawing on Chinese investment, is due to set sail in 2020. It will have similar dimensions and capacity (2.400 passengers and 900 crew) to the original, but will have modern propulsion and navigational equipment, and plenty of life boats.
“The ship will follow the original journey, carrying passengers from Southampton to New York,” Palmer told MSN in his capacity as chairman of the Blue Star Line, which will operate the ship.
“But she will also circumnavigate the globe, inspiring and enchanting people while attracting unrivalled attention, intrigue and mystery in every port she visits.”
Anecdotal reports have it that people are already expressing interest in travelling on the ship, despite the fate of the original, which sank in 1912 at the cost of 1,500 lives.
I certainly wouldn’t allow superstition get in my way if I were contemplating a journey. After all, icebergs never strike in the same place twice.
Or is that lightning?
It’ll be fine. By time it’s built, all the icebergs would have melted anyway.