Titanic replica is to set sail in 2018

Australian billionaire Clive Palmer and his company, Blue Star Line, will launch the Titanic II, a ship physically identical to its predecessor but for a number of small changes made to satisfy modern safety requirements.

And, just like the original, the 270-metre-long, 53-metre-high Titanic II will offer first, second and third-class tickets. The company has released pictures showing how it will look inside.

“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,” James McDonald, marketing director of Blue Star Line, told.

Titanic II’s maiden voyage will be not from Southampton to New York, but from Jiangsu in eastern China to Dubai.

A snowman standing through spring

A New York state family is seeking ‘snownations’ from area residents to keep their 15-foot-tall snowman standing through the spring months.

Mike Fregoe and his Massapequa Park family managed to keep their snowman standing through April 20 last year thanks to snow donations — or ‘snownations’ — from area residents, and the family is aiming to beat their record this year with their 15-foot snow sculpture — which was recently found to have shrunk to 13 feet.

The snowman, which was started with a freezer-preserved snowball from last year’s version, also survived a rain storm thanks to his ‘rain gear’ — a beach umbrella for a hat and a whole lot of plastic wrapping for his body.

‘Snowman lost a few pounds and needed a little face lift this morning, but the Save the Snowman Team found a sled full of snow in the neighbour’s yard and spruced up Snowman a bit.

Published in Dawn, Young World, March 19th, 2015