Titanic replica in China to simulate 1912 tragedy for visitors

TORONTO – A company in China has announced plans to build a life-sized version of the Titanic that will allow hundreds of people at a time to experience simulation of the 1912 ill-fated ocean liner.

Scheduled for completion in 2016, the project has a price tag of one billion Chinese yuan ($165 million) and will give visitors the experience of hitting an iceberg.

READ MORE: Rare photo showing Atlantic ties to Titanic up for auction

“When the ship hits the iceberg, it will shake, it will tumble,” said the Seven Star Investment Group’s CEO Su Shaojun’s in an interview with The Guardian.

“We will let people experience water coming in by using sound and light effects. They will think: ‘the water will drown me. I must escape with my life.'”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We will let people experience water coming in by using sound and light effects. They will think: 'the water will drown me. I must escape with my life.'"

Shaojun told China’s state news agency Xinhua the replica was to “inspire responsibility” and reflection on the Titanic’s failings.

Moored on a river bank, the replica will be built at the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s Wuchang shipyard and will serve as a “centerpiece” in a theme park in Daying County, in Sichuan Province.

YOUR THOUGHTS: Would you go on the Titanic replica in order to experience simulation of shipwreck? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page here.

Actor Bernard Hill, who played Captain Edward Smith in the 1997 film Titanic dismissed the criticism that the replica was insensitive to the memory of those killed in the disaster.

“It’s been approached in a very delicate and a very sensitive way and they are very aware of the extent of the disaster in 1912,” he said at a press conference Sunday.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's been approached in a very delicate and a very sensitive way and they are very aware of the extent of the disaster in 1912," he said at a press conference Sunday.

The RMS Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic early on April 15, 1912 and claimed the lives of 1,500 of the ship’s 2,200 passengers.

This isn’t the first time a replica of the Titanic will be built.

READ MORE: Titanic II to be built by an Australian billionaire

In 2012, Australian billionaire Clive Palmer announced that he was going to create a replica of the cruise-liner that sank more than 100 years ago.

Titanic II will be just as luxurious as its predecessor, but it’ll have 21st century technology and amenities, explained Palmer in a news conference. The Titanic II is also expected to be completed sometime in 2016 and will sail is various areas around the world.