With the rumours and hearsay over the planned 'Titanic II', it seems amazingly unclear whether the replica ship is actually happening.
The project by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer was announced back in 2012, with an eye to a 2016 launch. However, nothing's happened, and a start date has now been pushed back to 2018.
The new ship is slated to be identical to the original ill-fated liner, which sunk after crashing into an iceberg in 1912, though it is planned to be wider and have more lifeboats (naturally).
"The new Titanic will of course have modern evacuation procedures, satellite controls, digital navigation and radar systems and all those things you'd expect on a 21st-century ship," said James McDonald (via Belfast Telegraph), the global marketing director of Palmer's Blue Star Line company.
The new project is being contracted to Chinese shipyard CSC Jinling, with the maiden voyage set to be between Jiangsu, China to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
However, the self-funded project has drawn much criticism over insensitivity to the victims and survivors of the 1912 tragedy.
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Palmer could also be facing criminal charges over the collapse of his company Queensland Nickel, and his alleged use of aliases.
Additionally, there seems to be no photographic evidence of any construction on 'Titanic II', the only pictures being digital mock-ups of the planned project.
It seems a sequel to Titanic the movie is more realistic at this stage.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.
