On Saturday, a gala was held for people interested in meeting the Australian man who is planning to rebuild the Titanic. The gala was held in Macau and the host, Clive Palmer, was not in attendance. Palmer is the man behind the construction of the Titanic II. The guests were served the 11-course meal that passengers on the Titanic ate the night the ship sank, according to The New York Times.
The construction of the ship, which will cost over $200 million, will be constructed in the Chinese city of Nanjing.
Palmer owns five golf courses in Australia and three resorts, one of which is in Tahiti. He also holds mining and other natural resource assets. These assets include a nickel refinery and coal and iron ore deposits in Western Australia and Queensland. The list continues with five corporate jets, 150 racehorses, 100 vintage cars and a collection of dinosaur models.
“There is a sort of grudging respect for him,” said Jason West, a former investment banker who is now an associate professor at Griffith University in Brisbane. “It is very hard to get a handle on him and his business empire, but he has an eye for value — no doubt about it.”
The Titanic II has been christened by Palmer and it should hit the waters by 2016. It will have air conditioning, 840 cabins, and a lot more lifeboats than the original ship. It will be built by CSC Jinling Shipyard in China.
Palmer said that China holds a “dominant position in the cargo business, but they have less than 2 percent in passenger ships.”
Palmer also said that the Titanic II “could become a national showcase for China.”
“At my age, you don’t really worry that much about whether you make money or lose money on something,” Mr. Palmer said. “But I’m pretty convinced that it will be a financial bonanza.”