Titanic II Safety Deck a Given, Billionaire Businessman Promises

The Titanic II will have a safety deck, the Australian businessman who is funding the ambitious and kind of spooky initiative has confirmed.

The Titanic II‘s safety deck is just one of the many features on the nearly identical vessel, one which would probably be a bit unsettling to board and spend time on, even a century after it went down in the icy ocean and killed a ton of people. It’s difficult to imagine that the Titanic II could meet the same fate as its predecessor statistically, as well as hard to imagine in this day and age of instant communication. (Could you imagine how quickly Twitter would go crazy if a disaster of any sort occurred on Titanic II?)

Still, the issue of Titanic II‘s safety deck has been prominent since plans were announced to recreate the ship’s voyage with a near-replica. And Australian billionaire and Titanic II builder Clive Palmer says the addition of the safety deck to the otherwise near-twin vessel is in order to comply with modern safety regulations:

“[Titanic II‘s safety deck] is to ensure the vessel is fully compliant with the current regulations which require passenger ships to, as much as possible and practicable, keep the distance from the lifeboat launching area to the waterline as low as possible.”

While the newer version of the Titanic will sport updated safety features, the vessel will keep some of its century-old character. Palmer says that there will be first, second and third-class tickets, and that while he’s got dough, he’d buy a third-class one as that is “where the fun will be.”