Titanic II, a replica of the 1912 ill-fated
ocean liner expected to set sail in 2017, will have almost the same
design as the original including a third-class with shared bathrooms and
even a symbolic "delousing". Billionaire Australian MP Clive Palmer,
who announced his intention to build the Titanic II in 2012, has said he
is determined to press ahead with the project. However, he faces a
minor problem with how to lure paying passengers into the infamous
steerage section of the famous liner. Turning it into a marketing
strategy, Palmer has come up with "Roughing it on the Titanic" as his
sales pitch ahead of the ship's maiden commercial voyage from
Southampton to New York in 2017, Australian news portal news.com.au
reported. He has to convince up to 1000 cruise ship passengers to live
on stew and potatoes while dancing the Irish jig as he fine-tunes plans
to relaunch the Titanic. Palmer's new role as federal member for
Fairfax has not dimmed his enthusiasm for recreating the world's most
famous liner in a shipyard in China. Tanks tests have been completed in
Denmark showing the Titanic II's fundamentals are robust while cabins
design is well advanced and therein lies a problem, the report said. To
be true to the original design the first class cabins will boast an
opulence long gone from the cruise industry, which can no longer make a
commercial return on mahogany-lined mini-mansions, it said. "First
class on the Titanic was truly unbelievable, second class was like our
first class and third class - well third class was really third class,"
Palmer was quoted as saying. Hundreds of cabins below the waterline
will replicate the cramped quarters of the mainly Irish immigrants who
sailed on the doomed maiden voyage in 1912. Palmer has made concessions
to the 20th century in the ship's design but remains adamant that
everything on board is a faithful reproduction. He has even got hold of
the training manuals for silver service waiters who will be required to
serve vegetables in a prescribed manner. Those rules also require the
third class passengers to be deloused, the practice of ridding a person
of lice by physical or chemical means, when they get to New York. "And
they will be deloused...We might spray them with a hose full of confetti
but they will have to have the experience," Palmer said. The wreck of
the first ocean liner killed 1,502 of the 2,200 passengers and crew, and
became an international sensation. The new vessel, according to Palmer,
will have more than enough lifeboats.
Correlating the ups and down in the Indian rupee with the stock market, Vijay Bhambwani, CEO, bsplindia.com, suggests that if the rupee continues with its downward fall, the Indian stock market may fall breach October lows and fall further. “If the rupee falls below the 53.0-53.50 mark vis-a-vis the USD, expect a mini meltdown atleast in the equity markets. In that case, the 2250 level (on Nifty) will be breached easily to form a new low. The possibility of that low being below the 2000 levels on the Nifty spot is fairly high,” he says. Bhambwani supports his outlook by comparing the value of rupee at the time of October lows. “The October 2008 lows were made with the INR at 51.20 - 51.40 band. The rupee has breached the 52 level since then. Clearly the nation’s ‘share price’ (currency) indicates weakness. The curency market is a far more accurate barometer of the nation’s health compared to the equity indices. Whether you like it or not, we are under siege. Had it not been March (NAV ...
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