The unsinkable legend of the RMS Titanic goes on, and Chinese and Australian firms are racing to build full size replicas of the ill-fated White Star Line passenger ship that sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912 killing 1,500 persons.

Chinese state-owned Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Company recently said construction of the world's first full-sized Titanic replica that began in May 2014 at its Shuangliu Shipyard remains on track for its projected completion in 2018.

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Wuchang is building the 300 meter-long replica in landlocked Sichuan province, southwest of Beijing.

Wuchang has dubbed its version of the Titanic, "Unsinkable Titanic."

Wuchang's Unsinkable Titanic is being built as a tourist attraction and not as a seaworthy ship. The ship will be built in a reservoir and will float. Guests will be able to dine and stay overnight.

Wuchang executives told local media Unsinkable Titanic will be a faithful replica of the original Titanic. This ship will feature the same dining hall, theater, luxury first-class cabins and passenger cabins as in the original. These same features were also reproduced in the 1997 hit movie, Titanic.

Wuchang is a subsidiary of state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), one of the two largest shipbuilding conglomerates in China, the other being the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC).

CSIC, however, is the leading shipbuilder in the field of design, manufacture and trade of military and civil ships, marine engineering and marine equipment.

On the other hand, the other Titanic project is facing titanic financial problems of its own.

In 2012, Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer announced the building of "Titanic II," a seaworthy ocean liner to be built as an actual replica of the original. Palmer intended Titanic II to be the flagship of a proposed cruise company, Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd.

Titanic II was to have launched this year but as of October, construction hasn't begun on the ship. Palmer's company then said the project has been set back to 2018. It would have cost Palmer $600 million to build Titanic II.

Palmer, who has a reputation for being eccentric, originally planned for Titanic II to sail from Southampton in the United Kingdom to New York. He later said the new route will be from Jiangsu, China going to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The fate of Palmer's Titanic II remains uncertain, a fact not helped by Palmer's odd statement he would have to ask his wife to approve of the project.

But Titanic II will be more seaworthy and much safer than the original. It will meet modern safety and design requirements.

It will also have enough lifeboats for everyone on board. The shortage of these lifeboats on the original Titanic was one of the main reasons for the horrific death toll.

TagsRMS Titani, Wuchang Shipbuilding Industry Company, Unsinkable Titanic, Clive Palmer, Titanic (II), Sichuan Province, Shuangliu Shipyard