Gala unveils details of Titanic II project after delay

Titanic prior to departure in 1912

wikipedia-public domain

An Australian billionaire businessman Clive Palmer, who plans to build a replica of the renowned Titanic, holds a gala dinner to unveil details of the project. 

A dinner menu will be based on the eleven-course meal that was served to the first class passengers on the luxurious ocean liner the night it sank in 1912. 

The dinner had originally been scheduled for December 4, 2012, but the mining magnate postponed it in November out of respect to New Yorkers affected by Hurricane Sandy, which hit the US East Coast in late October.  

"Mayor Michael Bloomberg canceled the city's world renowned New York Marathon last weekend as he didn't want a cloud to hang over the event in the wake of the hurricane and the damage it inflicted," said Palmer in a statement. "New York had a close relationship with the original RMS Titanic and the shipping company White Star Line and we believe it is too early to be holding our launch while the city and the region continues its recovery," he added. 

China's SinoTrans is set to begin the construction of the modern luxurious ship at the end on 2013. Titanic II's maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York's Manhattan is scheduled for 2016.