A life-size replica of the Titanic for a Chinese amusement park (15 photos). New Titanic set to sail in three years Titanic being built in China

A life-size replica of the legendary Titanic ship is being built at a new amusement park in Suning, southwest China. The work, estimated at about $150 million, is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year. The creators promise that every detail of the copy of the legendary liner will match the original - from the design of the cabins to the menu in the restaurant.

In southwestern China's Sichuan province, construction is underway on a life-size replica of the legendary Titanic liner. The project, worth about $150 million, should be completed by the end of 2017, after which it will open to the public. They will be able to sit in the 1st class cabin and taste the dinner that was served to the passengers of the Titanic. A replica of the liner that sank in 1912 and claimed the lives of 1,500 people will become part of a new grandiose amusement park in Sichuan.

According to the builders, now the ship is about half ready. Six decks out of nine have already been built.

Builders work day and night to complete the project within the tight deadlines they set.

The Romandisi company, the author of the project, initially wanted to simulate a collision with an iceberg for visitors, depicting it using modern virtual reality technologies. However, investors abandoned the idea after relatives of those who died on the Titanic, as well as surviving passengers and their families, called the idea "unethical".

The creators of the replica exactly repeated all the dimensions of the legendary Titanic. The attraction ship is 269 meters long and 28 meters wide. After construction is completed, it will be left in an eternal parking lot near the banks of the Daiin Kee River near the city of Suning.

"Titanic" will be part of the "Romantic Mediterranean" section in the new amusement park, which will be called the "International Cultural and Tourist Complex "Seven Stars" Romandisi". The creators assure that everything on the legendary liner - from the decor in the cabins to the restaurant menu - will be fully consistent with the original.

The creators are sure that many Chinese will want to feel like a passenger of the Titanic. And this is not surprising: the famous film starring Leonardo DiCaprio in China has long become a cult.

A spokesman for the park management said they are committed to creating a place that will evoke emotions in people around the world. In his opinion, the theme of "Titanic" will be able to "satisfy the spiritual needs" of visitors, and will also be a reminder of how the passengers of the Titanic helped each other in the face of disaster.

The park is due to open to the public in 2019. According to the director of the developer, in addition to a copy of the Titanic, there will be the world's largest man-made beach, open all year round and open 24 hours a day, hot springs and yacht parking. Super resort hotels can accommodate from 4 to 5 thousand people.

However, not everyone believes that the idea of ​​restoring the Titanic was worthy of implementation. Many call it "bad taste".

However, developers do not pay attention to skeptics. In their opinion, the attraction will be very popular anyway, because the Chinese just love the movie "Titanic", filmed in 1997.

According to preliminary information, guests will pay for a night on the Titanic from $400 (for a place in a regular cabin) to $15,000 (for a place in a first class cabin).

Of course, passengers will also have access to entertainment in the style of the early twentieth century, including balls, pool parties and shows in the style of Las Vegas of that era.

For those who have seen the famous film "Titanic", the interiors of the ship will seem familiar - after all, its creators also sought to follow historical truth. After all the construction and finishing works, the Titanic replica will tentatively open to guests by 2019.

The most prosperous country in the creation of copies took up an unusual project - "Titanic II", the customer of which is the Australian billionaire Clive Palmer. Judging by the drawings, this creation will be an exact copy of the ship that sank a hundred years ago. It is planned to recreate every detail of the legendary ship, from decks, cabins, portholes and ending with parquet and door handles. The only difference is completely different security requirements.

Initially, the intention to create such an unexpected project was announced back in 2012, on the centennial anniversary of the death of the largest (at that time) transatlantic steamer. It was initiated by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer, who finances such a grandiose plan.

The idea of ​​resurrecting the Titanic, which sank in April 1912, is an old dream of a coal magnate who decided in such an unusual way to perpetuate the memory of the dead passengers and the ship itself, creating a kind of floating monument.

He commissioned a replica of the legendary ship from Chinese shipbuilders to sail along the same route as his original. But after some financial problems, the creation of the ship was suspended and resumed in September of this year.

Drawings and sketches of the interior of this vessel appeared on the Internet, it will be only four meters wider than the original for greater stability, all other parameters will correspond to the original design, its length will be 270 m, height 53, and displacement 40,000 tons.

The liner will be able to take on board about 2.5 thousand passengers, as well as 900 crew members. This project will fly into a tidy sum for Clive Palmer himself, because according to preliminary data, the budget will be about $ 500 million. The initiator himself plans to bring the matter to an end and on the 110th anniversary of the death of the ship promises that it will be launched.

The new liner will be completely recreated in the image and likeness of its predecessor, with the same luxurious interior of the cabins, ballroom, theater, swimming pool, restaurant, dining rooms and even the engine room, but the technical support and navigation equipment, as well as the security systems in it will be the most modern .

“Blue Star Line will create an authentic experience by giving passengers a ship that will have the same interiors as on the Titanic, cabin decoration, but will also install the latest security systems, digital navigation and radar equipment, advanced technologies of the 21st century, to provide the highest comfort level,” says Palmer.

After launching on its maiden voyage, the ship will leave the shipyard located in the Chinese province of Jiangsu to Singapore, and then go to Dubai. After that, they plan a two-week cruise to Southampton, in order to lay their first course from there, recovering to the shores of New York.

This route is planned to run only in the summer season, and serve other destinations in winter. In this cruise ship, as in the original, there will be first, second and third class cabins with the corresponding ticket price. By the way, even though the flight will not take place soon, the sale of tickets has already started, and the most expensive tickets will cost fans of such an unusual trip ... 1 million dollars.

Titanic 2 will be released in 2018, and we are not talking about a movie, but about that very legendary ship. It is planned to create a complete replica of the famous ship down to the smallest detail - the filling and many amenities, of course, will be modern.

Australian billionaire, industrialist, MP and specific nutcase Clive Palmer decided to recreate the Titanic. The ship will look authentic and historical, except with Wi-Fi, modern restrooms and, hopefully, no imminent disaster. Even the construction company is named almost the same as the one that built the original: Blue Star Line versus White Star Line at the wreck.

The British cruise ship Titanic was once considered almost a wonder of the world. With its luxurious interior decoration, Turkish baths and entertainment, it was something of a floating palace. However, by an absurd accident, the ship sank in 1912, killing approximately 1,400 of the 2,400 passengers. After the famous film with Leonardo DiCaprio and many underwater expeditions, the Titanic has become more of a cultural phenomenon than just a ship.

A hundred years later, in 2012, Australian tycoon Clive Palmer decided that the world was ready for Titanic 2 and announced his desire to recreate it. It is planned that the replica with its parameters will be as close as possible to the original. Of course, this cannot be done at 100%: according to modern safety requirements, the ship should be 4 meters wider; for the same reasons, the hull will be made welded, and not riveted, as in 1912. The tonnage of the ship should increase by 10% - apparently, based on a noticeably fatter population.

The interior of the modern Titanic.

In addition, the insides of Titanic 2 will be made modern: no steam engine and workers throwing coal into the furnace - only diesel traction and stronger propellers and a steering wheel. There will also be an advanced navigation system, escalators, electronics, Wi-Fi, satellite communications, and so on, so those who expect to be completely immersed in the era will be disappointed.

The largest shipbuilding company in China, CSC Jingling Shipyard, is directly involved in the creation of the new Titanic. Before that, she was not engaged in the construction of liners at all, assembling monstrous cargo ships, but this choice is not accidental. The fact is that Jingling are old partners of the coal magnate Palmer.

The construction of Titanic 2 was supposed to be completed in 2016, but it turned out that there was not enough time. In addition, many details and changes that affected the project became known. It turned out that there would be more passengers than planned, that is, almost exactly the same number as on the original Titanic. In addition, his route has been changed and will not be original - that is, not from Southampton to New York, but from China to Dubai.

Clive Palmer himself is rapidly catching up with the Titanic in terms of tonnage.

Clive Palmer is a billionaire coal and nickel mine owner and is prone to spontaneous ideas. So, for example, Clive suddenly decided to become an MP, sponsored the Conservative Party and won the election. Then he was so inspired by the theme "" that he recreated it in Australia. Of course, with mechanized dolls in full growth. When Palmer proposed making the Titanic, few of his countrymen were surprised.

© Picture of Blue Star Line.

— TicToc by Bloomberg (@tictoc) October 21, 2018

The new ship, according to Blue Star Line reports, will be 270 meters long, 53 meters high and have a displacement of 40,000 tons. 840 cabins can accommodate 2,400 passengers and 900 crew members. At the disposal of travelers, as before, there will be cabins of the first, second and third classes.

Image of Blue Star Line.

At the same time, the liner, according to its creators, will be very different from the original life-saving equipment and modern navigation systems and powerful engines.

«(У лaйнepa будут) тaкиe жe caлoны и кaбинa, чтo и в opигинaльнoм cуднe, в тo жe вpeмя будут иcпoльзoвaны coвpeмeнныe cpeдcтвa бeзoпacнocти, нaвигaциoнныe мeтoды и тexнoлoгии XXI вeкa», — сooбщил MSN Kлaйв Пaлмep, австралийский миллиардер, вдохновитель и инвестор проекта « Titanic-2".

Image of Blue Star Line.

The company is even promising to recreate the Titanic 1 front staircase, made famous by James Cameron's 1997 film.

In fact, the Titanic-2 project so far looks more like a presentation for investors than an almost finished ship, which in just almost three years will enter the waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Video: Specifications and visualization of "Titanic-2"

For the first time, Clive Palmer announced plans to build a copy of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard back in 2012, estimating the implementation of the project at $ 500 million - not the smallest amount, given that we are talking about building a large, but still not a space ship. The project was then shelved due to financial difficulties. Then Blue Star Line announced the launch of the vessel in 2016, then in 2018, and later postponed it to 2019. Now everything has been postponed again, this time to 2022.

The first Titanic, considered unsinkable, went on its maiden voyage in April 1912. His path ran through the waters of the North Atlantic with drifting icebergs. On April 14, at 23:40, the ship collided with an iceberg and sank two and a half hours later. In one of the largest maritime disasters in human history, 1,513 out of 2,224 passengers and crew died.

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer promises to create an exact copy of the transatlantic liner. "Titanic II" will follow the same route as the first liner more than a hundred years ago. The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on April 15, 1912, five days after leaving Southampton. More than 2,200 people were on board the ship. The death toll, according to various sources, ranged from 1400 to 1517 people.

Can a successful business be built on one of the greatest disasters of the century?

Architecture of the past, technology of the present

The initiator of the construction is the Australian coal magnate, 20th in the list of the richest people in his country according to Forbes Clive Palmer. Recreating the Titanic is his blue dream. “The reconstruction is a tribute to the spirit of the men and women who worked on the original Titanic. Even a century later, the ship impresses with its scale and beauty, and we want this feeling to last for another 100 years,” the Blue Star Line cruise company, created for this project, told a Forbes Life correspondent. The company got its name by analogy with the shipping company White Star Line, which built the original ship more than a hundred years ago.

The international company Lloyd's Register is engaged in checking the drawings and engineering calculations. The company is not connected with the Lloyd's of London insurance company, which played one of the key roles in the history of the Titanic, except for the homonymous name.

Blue Star Line has also partnered with Finnish marine engineering company Deltamarin, marine architecture and interior design firm Tillberg Design of Sweden, and British marine management company V. Ships Leisure.

The Titanic II will follow its original Southampton-New York route and then travel around the world like a regular cruise ship.

It will not do without the famous front staircase, along which the hero Leonardo DiCaprio spectacularly descended in the Oscar-winning Titanic.

The Titanic was the largest passenger ship of its time. The length of the ocean liner was 269 m, width - 28 m. The dimensions of the Titanic II will correspond to the original ship, only the width of the vessel is slightly larger for additional stability on the water. The ship will have 834 cabins that can accommodate 2,435 people.

At the same time, the parameters of the best ship of the 1900s are significantly inferior to modern “floating hotels and resorts”. Royal Caribbean's largest ship, the Symphony of the Seas to date, is 360 meters long and spans 65 meters wide. The ship has 2,775 cabins, designed for almost 7,000 passengers.

The architects promise to recreate the legendary interiors of the ship, which today are preserved only in a few photographs of the Titanic from the early twentieth century. The ship is still considered a symbol of luxury and comfort. Not without the famous front staircase, on which Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack Dawson spectacularly descended in James Cameron's Oscar-winning Titanic. The width of the oak steps is almost 6 meters. The White Star Line designer used several styles for this piece of furniture. The carved baluster of the railing is made in the style of William III and Mary II, the wrought iron balustrade is in the style of Louis XIV.

The division of decks into three classes of passengers will remain. Blue Star Line considers this an important part of the project concept. "Journey by ship will give passengers the feeling of traveling through time," the company is sure.

From a technological point of view, the Titanic II will be a modern ship. The liner will be equipped with satellite control, digital navigation and radar means of evacuation, as it should be on a ship of the 21st century. The ship has 18 rescue motor boats with a capacity of up to 250 people.

Titanic as a tourist attraction

Even after a hundred years, interest in the Titanic does not subside. Today, artifacts from the ship are shown in two museums: the interactive museum in Southampton and the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Canada. Cruisers must visit these expositions.

Interest in the Titanic is growing as the remains of the ship collapse on the seabed. Bacteria are predicted to eat the ship by 2030. By the way, a 10-day excursion to the sunken Titanic called The Titanic Survey Expedition will cost tourists $ 105,129. This is how much the most expensive first-class ticket to the Titanic in 1912 cost in terms of today's rate. The tour starts from the Canadian city of St. John's.

The Oscar-winning film by James Cameron not only captured the memory of hundreds of millions of viewers of the greatness of the Titanic, but also did a disservice to the cruise industry, laying the associative string: "big liner - big disaster." Titanic is a taboo subject for us,” several major cruise companies told Forbes.

Blue Star Line should invite a team of psychotherapists on board to avoid unpleasant situations.

Today the journey from Southampton to New York takes seven days. According to experts, no one can predict how a person will behave after spending a week in the open ocean. “We can say with confidence that some of the passengers will be very scared,” says psychotherapist, certified transactional analyst Igor Gozhiy. - Inside the fear, as a rule, there is a negative childhood experience, and it is not at all necessary that it be experienced by the child in reality. For example, I had a client who was afraid to sail on a ship because as a child he was present at the story of a survivor of a shipwreck. According to Igor Gozhego, children from 4 to 7 years old are the most receptive and sensitive: it is at this age that the fears that appear in them tend to be fixed and can develop into a phobia. “The film “Titanic” could also make a negative impression on the child, especially if, during the viewing, the parents did not explain to their son or daughter that what is actually happening on the screen was performed by professional actors. Fear is always provoked by triggers. For example, if the scenery from the film coincides with reality, then these details can provoke discomfort and even panic attacks,” Igor Gozhiy believes.

It is believed that it is fear that will motivate people to buy tickets for a cruise on the Titanic II. “We are subconsciously always drawn to what we fear. This is the same reason people watch horror movies. In addition, a good environment contributes to the processing of fear, ”says psychotherapist Gozhy. He believes that Blue Star Line should invite a team of psychotherapists on board to avoid unpleasant situations.

The honorary secretary of the British Titanic Society, David Scott-Beddard, positively assesses the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating a copy of the Titanic: “If this project is ever successful, then the cost of the ticket will be higher than the means of most people, and those who still sail on it will appreciate every minute.

Superstition and ethics

The ethical side of the question of the participants does not confuse the market. "Titanic II" is a commercial project that does not carry anything offensive to the maritime industry. In addition, the last surviving passenger of the Titanic died ten years ago, so the risks of any litigation are minimal,” said Yury Nekhaychuk, head of external communications at AlfaStrakhovanie. He also sees no reason for insurance brokers to make special demands on Clive Palmer's project. “Insurance is not black magic. Insurance depends on the technical parameters of the vessel, the history of its operation, the presence of any breakdowns in other ships of the company and other standard parameters. The image of RMS Titanic will not have any impact on the cost of insurance coverage,” said Yuriy Nekhaychuk. “Technical characteristics and the level of unprofitability for cruise ships will be of primary importance,” says Sergey Trubitsyn, Head of the Ship Insurance and Shipowners' Liability Department at Ingosstrakh. He also recalls that famous ships often gave their names to new generations of liners: Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth.

David Scott-Beddard calls superstition the lot of old sailors, the vestige of a bygone era. “Most of those who wish to sail on the Titanic II probably know about the disaster only from the James Cameron film. They will not dance on the bones, but only play a role in a certain performance, participate in an adventure, a quest, if you like. By the way, after the announcement of the construction of Titanic II, the greatest interest was shown precisely in third-class tickets, apparently in order to better identify oneself with the hero of the film, ”says Valentin Eliseev, general director of the Neptune cruise company, president of the Association of Cruise Operators of Russia. The Titanic was considered the pinnacle of splendor in the golden age of ocean travel. Investors spare no expense to create a beautiful ship. The replica will be a rare opportunity to touch the former greatness and feel the spirit of the era,” says David Scott-Beddard.

Flights from the UK to the US on a regular basis will not be commercially successful.

Blue Star Lines herself is not afraid of the tragic example of the first Titanic: “We are not superstitious, we are proud to bring this project to life.” According to research company YouGov, more than half of Americans surveyed (59%) do not believe in bad omens and would set sail on the Titanic 2. A third of respondents (35%) are skeptical about the idea. A bad sign on a trip on the ship "Titanic-2" is seen by 49% of people aged 18-24 (against 27% of people over 55).

Analysts believe that much will depend on the price of the ticket and the range of services on board. On the real Titanic, tickets cost $114-342 per bed in third class, $550 to $2,200 in second class, and suites in first class cost up to $30,000. For comparison, the cost of one bed in a double cabin on the Queen Mary 2 is an average of $ 1500-2000 per person, according to the set of amenities in the room, the cabin is closer to the second class.

Flights from the UK to the US on a regular basis will not be commercially successful. Today, only one ship carries out regular non-stop transportation between the two Great Britain and North America - this is the Cunard Queen Mary 2 liner. mail") sails a distance of almost 6,000 kilometers along the transatlantic route in seven days.

“The rapid development of civil aviation in the 1960s and 70s and the emergence of long-range aircraft practically buried passenger sea transportation across the ocean,” says Valentin Eliseev, general director of the Neptune cruise company, president of the Association of Cruise Operators of Russia. - But cruise "tours" in different regions may still be popular for several years, especially in the emerging markets of China and India. But you will have to invest heavily in promotion and elaboration of routes.”

Competitors of the new "Titanic"

Despite announcements of the liner's first flight in 2022, Blue Star Line representatives are in no hurry to disclose the exact dates of the cruise and open ticket sales. “To date, more than 30,000 people have expressed interest in the project, but the process of booking tickets has not yet begun,” Forbes Life explained.

Palmer's caution is understandable. He first loudly announced the Titanic II back in 2012. It was planned that the construction would be timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the memory of those who died and survived on the ship. The liner was intended to be launched in 2016. Due to financial difficulties, these plans were not realized. Only at the end of last year, as if repeating the words of Celine Dion in the song My heart will go on and on, Palmer assured everyone that the work would continue. The cost of the project is $500 million. For comparison, $190 million was allocated for the construction of the RMS Titanic.

How long it will take to recoup the costs, Blue Star Line did not answer. So far, the company has received only wide PR coverage and more than 16,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter as a return on investment.

The Titanic will have to compete not only with ultra-modern cruise ships, but also with themed hotels.

Skepticism around the fact that the liner will still go to sea has not disappeared since the announcement of the launch of the project. Not the last role in this was played by the unsuccessful experience of Clive Palmer's predecessor, the South African businessman Sarel Gus, who tried unsuccessfully from 1998 to 2006 to find funding for a similar project and combine the luxury of the Titanic with economic feasibility and reliability. Reinforcing prejudice against Palmer's project and the results of his previous business venture, the money-losing Palmersaurus Dinosaur Park. The project, which claims to become a real "Jurassic Park", caused a sharp negative reaction from visitors, who considered the entry prices unreasonably high for viewing roaring statues of the same type of dinosaurs.

The Titanic will have to compete not only with ultra-modern cruise ships and the real Titanic, but also with themed hotels. In 2017, the Titanic Belfast Hotel opened on the site of the headquarters of the Harland & Wolff shipbuilding company that designed the Titanic. The total cost of renovation of the space amounted to $38 million. The restored office of the chief designer of the Titanic, Thomas Andrews, with an authentic interior, is open to guests. Dinner is served in the Drawing Room. The walls of the bar are tiled in the same Villeroy & Boch series that was used to decorate the pool and bathrooms of the first class cabins on the Titanic. The cost of one night in a hotel is from $167 to $515 depending on the type of room.

The Chinese company Seven Star Energy Investment Group went further and in 2014 announced its intention to build a life-size replica of the Titanic. The ship will be located on the territory of the Romandisea Seven Star International resort complex, located in Sichuan province. Unlike the Clive Palmer project, Seven Star Energy Investment has no plans to launch the ship. The static ship will be used as a hotel. The creators of the copy of the ship do not set themselves the task of accurately reproducing each cabin. The ship will recreate several accommodations for tourists, including the main staircase, ballroom, theater, three-class cabins and a swimming pool. The developers of the project also promise to reproduce for tourists the collision of the Titanic with an iceberg and its subsequent crash. Hollywood producer and director Curtis Schnell is working on the attraction, and the British Titanic Society is making sure that the floating hotel is built with the utmost precision. The unsinkable Titanic II, being a much less complex design than a full-fledged ship, will cost 3 times cheaper ($145 million) than the idea of ​​an Australian businessman. At the same time, the terms of the project were also repeatedly shifted. The hotel was originally slated to open in 2017. A representative of Seven Star Energy Investment Group declined to comment, and judging by rare photos from the company's official Twitter account, over the past three years, the installation of the ship's iron frame has not even been completed in Singchuan.