the fates, two newly formed shipping companies hope to revive the golden age of the Transatlantic passenger liner by building full scales replicas of the Titanic. The keel of the first ship could be laid as early as this month (08/98), in Durban, South Africa. If the work steams ahead on schedule, the replica’s owner, RMS Titanic Shipping Holdings of Durban, could welcome passengers aboard for a Dec. 29, 1999, maiden voyage. About two years later, a second replica proposed by White Star Line Limited of Basel, Switzerland—a new company unrelated to the original White Star Line—could begin her maiden voyage.
Both
transatlantic crossings will be largely ceremonial. After retracing—and hopefully completing—the Titanic’s interrupted journey from Southampton, England, to New York City, they will head for Southern waters to begin careers as vacation cruise liners.
A Titanic Obstacle
Creating
floating steel palaces worthy of their namesake, isn’t as simple as placing an order with Hartland and Wolff, the Titanic’s builders. The biggest problem is the Titanic herself. After the 46,000-ton ship slid beneath the
sea on April 15, 1912, killing 1523, seafaring nations tightened passenger ship construction and safety regulations. "There is no way you could build the original Titanic." Capt. Christopher McMahon of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., tells Popular Mechanics. "They [ the replica’s] may look like the
Titanic, but they won’t be the Titanic."
Even
the Titanic’s sister ship, the Britannic—under construction at the time of the disaster—couldn’t be built to the original plans. And it’s older sister, the Olympic, was put into dry dock for a major overhaul that included massive structural changes.
Even
if some sort of special exemption could be granted to allow the construction of a down-to-the-rivet replica, it is questionable how many passengers would be willing to pay $30,612.00 to $382,650.00 to spend 4 or 5 days tossing about on the Atlantic on a ship with turn-of-the-century plumbing. And lets not forget superstition. The Britannic, which served as a World War I hospital ship, sank after it hit a mine, and suffered similar damage to the Titanic. 30 of the 1,100 on board died.
Sarel
Gous, managing director of the South African project, acknowledges that there will be differences. "Our Titanic will look identical to the original, but of course with the latest safety technology," he says.
Steel Dreams
The
two would-be replica builders were still negotiating with Naval architects and shipyards when PM went to press. So we asked Neil Gallagher of Webb Institute in Glen Cove, N.Y., the country’s foremost school of Naval architects, how closely the replica’s were likely to mimic the original. "It depends on how close you look," he said, "because the ship’s most distinctive features will have to be faked. Not that fakery is new to the Titanic name."
In
her era, the Titanic’s most distinctive features were her four proudly raked funnels. Actually, only the three nearest the bow were real. A fourth, dummy funnel was added to make her look, well, titanic. Both replica’s will have four funnels. However, all will be ornamental because modern ships don’t have steam engines. "I doubt you would find anyone who would build a reciprocating steam engine," said Gallagher. The same holds true for the Titanic’s boldly riveted hull. Once again it isn’t simply a matter of finding skilled labor. Today’s ship hulls are welded.
The
shape of the hull will also need to change. "The hull of the Titanic was pretty good for it’s day," said Gallagher. He quickly added that the same design could spell economic ruin in today’s highly competitive cruise-ship industry. The biggest change will occur just below the water line, where the ship’s could be fitted with a bulbous protrusion that prevents the formation of an energy-robbing bow wave, explained Gallagher. This in turn will improve fuel economy by about 4%.
That is the equivalent of about one free fill up for every 26 transatlantic crossing.
The Hotel Load
And
fill up is exactly what the replica’s will do when they arrive in port. While the Titanic’s 159 furnaces burned 825 tons of coal a day, the replica’s will sip diesel fuel. "They will probably use diesel generators so they can provide electricity for both propulsion, and what we call a ‘hotel load’," said Gallagher.
Modern
cruise ships are, in fact, floating hotels. To keep passengers happy, as they tour tropical climates will require, among other things, air conditioning, more than double the three passenger elevators on the Titanic, and enough current to power all the hair dryers that will be turned on a half-hour before each dinner.
"The
beauty of multiple diesel generators is that you can redirect the power from propulsion to the hotel load as needed," said Gallagher. In the space occupied by about 5 of the Titanic’s 29 boilers, the replica’s 5 diesel generators will crank out enough power for the ship’s electric motors, and today’s electrical essentials.
Scrapping
29 boilers, and 159 furnaces, will free up lots of space, but pose another design problem. Weighing less than the original, the replica’s will ride higher in the water. "This," said Gallagher, "Will make them less stable. They would probably need a permanent or sea water ballast," he said.
Ship
owners will also have to worry more about what comes out of the cabins. In the Titanic’s day, garbage and waste, sanitary, and bilge water were simply thrown overboard. McMahon says that to meet U.S. Coast Guard regulations, the replica’s will need modern sewage treatment plants, and garbage compactors to store solid waste until it can be trucked away at port.
Capt.
Tom Pineault of the American Bureau of Shipping, an organization that certifies the structural, and mechanical fitness of ships, says that although the replica projects face substantial challenges, the problems are all solvable, for a price. Project backers have placed the cost of their ships between $400 million and $600 million, about twice as much per passenger as modern cruise liners, estimates McMahon. Annette D. Volcker, of the White Star Line, believes the expense will be worth it. "We are giving back to sea travel what it has lost in modern times—an air of magnificent elegance.
