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**As we speak, two shipping companies are working on their own replicas of the infamous RMS Titanic. The first one is being built in Durban, South Africa by the RMS Titanic Shipping Holdings of Durban and is scheduled to steam into the new millenium on December 29, 1999. In 2001, the second replica built by a US-Swiss shipbuilder, White Star Line Limited of Basel, Switzerland will set sail. Both liner crossings from Southampton-New York will be ceremonial and will then head south to become vacation cruise liners.
After the original Titanic slid to the bottom of the Atlantic, ship safety regulations were greatly tightened. "There is no way you could build the original Titanic," Captain Chris McMahon of the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, "they[the replicas] may look like the Titanic, but they won't be the Titanic." Sarel Gous, managing director of the South African project contends that there will be differences. "Our Titanic will look identical to the original, but of course with the latest safety technology," he says.
Neil Gallagher, of the Webb Institute, the country's foremost school for naval architects, was asked how closely the replicas would look like the original. "It depends on how close you look," he said, "because the ship's most distinctive features will have to be faked." One of Titanic's most distinct features were the four raked funnels. Both replicas will have four funnels but they will only ornamental because modern ships don't use steam engines. Another major difference is the riveted hull; today's ships have welded hulls. Along with the welded hull, the shape will also be different. The biggest change will occur below the waterline, where the ships will be fitted with a bulbous potrusion that prevents the formation of an energy-robbing bow wave, explained Gallagher. This, in turn, will improve fuel economy by 4%(equivalent of a free fill-up for every 26th transatlantic crossing).
While the original Titanic had 159 furnaces burning 825 tons of coal a day, the replicas will run on diesel fuel. "They will probably use diesel generators so as to provide electricity for propulsion and what we call a 'hotel load'," Gallagher explained.
Modern cruise ships are considered floating hotels. Since the ships will travel in tropical waters(no icebergs!!), they will require, among other things, air conditioning, more than double the three passenger elevators on the Titanic, and enough electric current to power than numerous electrical gizmos brought aboard by passengers.
"The beauty of multiple diesel generators is that you can redirect the power from the propulsion to the hotel load as needed," said Gallagher. In the space occupied by about five of the Titanic's 29 boilers, the replica's five diesel generators will provide enough power for the ship's electric motors and today's electrical essentials.
Going from the original 29 boilers and 159 furnaces to the modern-day diesel generators will free up a lot of space, but pose a new design problem. Weighing less than the orginal, the replicas will ride higher in the water, thus making them less stable. Gallagher states "They would probably need a permanent or sea water ballast."
Another challenge will be taking care of what comes out of the ship's cabins. In the days of the original Titanic, garbage and waste, sanitary and bilge water were thrown overboard. In order to meet US Coast Guard regulations, the replicas will need modern sewage treatment plants and garbage compactors to store solid waste until it can be hauled away at port.
Captain Tom Pineault of the American Bureau of Shipping, an organization that certifies the structural and mechanical fitness of ships(neglected by the Board of Trade in 1912), says that even though the replica projects face substantial challenges, the problems are solvable, for a price. Financial backers for the replicas have put the costs for the ships at a price tag of between $400-600 million, about twice the amount per passenger as other modern liners. Annette D. Völcker, of the White Star Line, believes the expense will be well worth it. "We are giving back to sea travel what it has lost in modern times-an air of magnificent elegance."**
