Titanic II testing announced by Clive Palmer via Twitter
The latest progress on the construction of entrepreneur Clive Palmer’s Titanic II has been announced via Twitter.
The proposed Titanic II
Palmer’s Blue Star Line is undertaking a faithful, modern reconstruction of the iconic liner, scheduled to be launched in 2016.
Palmer tweeted an announcement to his 21,000 followers that the first model testing of the proposed Titanic II will be undertaken at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin next month.
“A 9.3m wooden model of Titanic II will be put through resistance and powering tests in a 300m long tank at HSVA's Hamburg facilities in mid-September,” the linked report in Maritime Global News stated.
“Titanic II is scheduled to be launched from its construction base in China in 2016, before her maiden passenger voyage retracing the original journey from Southampton to New York.”
Palmer said: "This model testing by HSVA will be an important stage in the Titanic II project."
He added: "The Titanic II model is to be tested in the HSVA tank at speeds of between 18 and 24 knots. This testing is crucial for assessing the speed and power performance of this prototype vessel design."
The replica Titanic vessel will be a faithful recreation internally and externally of the original stricken liner, modified to include modern navigational aids, safety features and - crucially- an adequate supply of lifeboats.
"Titanic II is a prototype as present day passenger vessels have a completely different type of main hull parameters and therefore are unsuitable as references," said HSVA Director of Resistance and Propulsion, Dr Uwe Hollenbach.