On the 13th March, 2024, Clive Palmer announced that Titanic II will enter service in June 2027.
Mr Palmer, released a statement in September 2018, as chairman of Blue Star Line, saying the company had recommenced work to build Titanic II to operate on the London to New York route.
Work on the Titanic II project was suspended in 2015 because his flagship company Mineralogy was in dispute with Chinese government-owned Citic over the payment of hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties to Palmer.
Just A Publicity Stunt?
Some commentators believe that the whole Titanic II project was just a big publicity stunt. Some think that he has no intention of actually building the ship.
However, Palmer really did spend a significant amount of money the project, between 2012-2015. When Mr. Palmer’s finances were investigated in 2016, It was reported that he spent $6 million on the project.
He has still been spending money on the project, since 2018.
This is what Palmer achieved in the 2012 to 2015 period:
- Senior managers and an advisory panel were appointed to the project, the latter to ensure historical accuracy.
- Various renderings, deck plans and videos were created and issued of the ship and its public rooms.
- Clive Palmer hosted several lavish dinners around the world to launch the project.
- Most importantly, he commissioned the ships design work from the respected Finnish naval architects, ‘Deltmarin’.
Deltamarin are the ‘real deal’. They have helped design a whole host of ferries and cruise ships for many of the major cruise lines, including the ‘Oasis’ class for Royal Caribbean – the world’s biggest ship.
Palmer also commissioned a number of other maritime bodies, to provide various maritime services, such as Tillberg Design, of Sweden, famous for their nautical interior design work.
The Tank Test
In September 2013 a model of the Titanic’s hull was tested in Hamburg, Germany.
Now why would Mr. Palmer go to the expense of testing a model of Titanic II’s hull, if the whole project was a publicity stunt? It can’t be a cheap thing to do. Surely this is also proof of his commitment to the project?
Blue Star Lines statements read:
Palmer said: “Our team lead by Deltamarin in Finland have been very busy over the past few month working to finalise plans for the ship to begin construction. Working with German hydrodynamic service and consulting company Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) we have conducted the first model testing of the proposed Titanic II.
“The model testing by HSVA, including resistance and open water tests, is an important part of the process in the Titanic II project,”
“The Titanic II model was tested by HSVA at speeds of up to 23 knots and this testing is crucial for assessing the speed and power performance of this prototype vessel design.
“Blue Star Line was represented at the tests by the World Project Director of Titanic II, Baljeet Singh. We look forward to receiving the results later this year.”
HSVA Director of Resistance and Propulsion, Dr Uwe Hollenbach, said HSVA was delighted to be part of the historic Titanic II project.
Dr Hollenbach said model testing was the only accurate and reliable method for a passenger vessel prototype such as Titanic II.
“Our team lead by Deltamarin in Finland have been very busy over the past few month working to finalise plans for the ship to begin construction. Working with German hydrodynamic service and consulting company Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) we have conducted the first model testing of the proposed Titanic II.
The 9.3m wooden model of Titanic II has be put through resistance and powering tests in a 300m long tank at HSVA’s Hamburg facilities in mid-September. We are extremely excited about finalising this testing and means we can move on with finalising our construction contract”.
Tank Test Video Below
The Titanic II project is NOT just a publicity Stunt!
I believe construction will begin in 2025/6, to meet the 2027 deadline.
Malcolm
Titanic II News 