22. Project Difficulties
On the tragedy’s 100th anniversary (2012), Clive Palmer announced that construction for a second Titanic would begin before the end of the year, with a 2016 launch date. The following year, reports emerged that Palmer was experiencing financial difficulties that would postpone the start of construction until March 2014, then to late 2014.
When construction still had not begun in 2015, a spokesperson clarified that the project had merely been delayed, not canceled, but the new launch date would be 2018 – two years later than initially planned. However, a journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation had been informed that the project had been halted, as the Chinese shipyard workers were highly unconvinced that the project would move beyond the proposal phase.
During this time, Clive Palmer had dabbled in Australian politics. When he faced the freezing of personal assets to recoup money owed to a newly bankrupt company he owned, he declined to stand for re-election and chose to refocus on the Titanic II project instead. On September 27, 2018, the Blue Star Line announced that the project would recommence, and the current expected launch date is 2022.
