‘Made in China’ Titanic to repeat 1912 journey

Zeenews Bureau

New Delhi: After copying everything from a paper pin to Paris’ Eiffel Tower, China is set to build a full-size exact replica of the doomed ocean liner Titanic, which went down in the Atlantic during its maiden journey from Southampton in UK to New York in 1912. The Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing has already signed an initial agreement to build the ship with Australian billionaire mining tycoon Clive Palmer, reports said on Thursday. Titanic II is due to be completed by 2016; ready to sailed to the UK and prepared for her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York - a repeat of the 1912 journey which ended in disaster. Efforts are on to resemble the famed luxury liner with the design work being carried out by a consortium of companies. Akin to the original, Titanic II will be 270 metres long and 53 metres high with nine floors and 840 rooms. It will accommodate 2,400 passengers and 900 crew members. A report said that Palmer’s decision to go for ‘Made in China’ Titanic has prompted scepticism from some about how achievable the project is and how safe the end product will be. A Global Times editorial said, "Frequent scandals involving shoddy products domestically and internationally have turned the term `Made in China` into a synonym for cheap and low value-added products." However, the newspaper argued that the project is a chance to prove that the `Made in China` brand does work.