Real Estate magnate Clive Palmer, a self-made Australian billionaire, announced he is hiring a Chinese shipbuilder to construct a full-size replica of the RMS Titanic, the “unsinkable” White Star luxury liner which sank with the loss of 1,514 lives on April 15, 1912 after colliding with an iceberg (which, presumably, caused her low-grade steel rivets, already embrittled by below-freezing seawater, to fail en masse).

Of course, while it will look like the original Titanic in all regards, at least above the waterline, it’ll include the latest, state-of the art navigation, collision-avoidance, communications, and other gizmos to ensure the new ship is, well, unsinkable (or, to avoid the attention of lawyers, let’s say “optimized to minimize the capability for taking on unwanted water”).

Mr. Palmer plans her maiden voyage for late 2016, along the same route as the original RMS Titanic.

I admire his ambitious plan, but I’d be more than a bit careful using Chinese shipbuilders, Chinese electronics, Chinese materials, or Chinese engineering expertise to construct his vessel (he’s not considering using Chinese food, or internet access via a Chinese web portal… is he?)

And, I hope he succeeds. Currently, most of today’s hugemongous floating cities are too tender to travel across an ocean comfortably: A ship with elegant lines, Victorian opulence, and a link to history would be a nice addition. Personally, I’d like him to build a Normandie II or the United States II – however, burning up at the dock or rusting away after being stripped of parts simply doesn’t compare in terms of sheer tragedy. Maybe he’ll consider adding some ships later?

Unfortunately, he’s not the first to lay claim to titling something “Titanic II” – that was already done back in 2010, apparently with disastrous results:

Frankly, I’d build the ship a little larger and just name it the “Gigantic” – why tempt Fate?

Thanks for reading!