Clive Palmer’s plan to build Titanic II runs into another iceberg

It is difficult to decide whether the latest twist in the tale of Clive Palmer’s quest to build an exact replica of the Titanic falls into the category of “larger-than-life billionaires” or “truth is stranger than fiction”.

This week, Palmer has been ghosted by the chairman of a sinking UK shipbuilding company that he wants to build his dream disaster vessel.

Mining magnate and would-be Titanic II owner Clive Palmer.Credit: Glenn Hunt

Some perspective here. This shipbuilder, Harland & Wolff, is in such a dire financial state that it is passing the hat around to stay afloat. And this week even the UK government refused to throw a lifeline to this iconic boat builder – which (you guessed it) actually built the original Titanic ocean liner.

It seems that Harland & Wolff didn’t like the cut of Palmer’s jib or the colour of his money.

Palmer says he had offered a $200 million contribution (whether this was a loan or equity is unspecified) to Harland & Wolff. That’s not all that’s on offer: Australia’s most idiosyncratic billionaire wants the shipmaker to build Titanic II at the cost of up to $1 billion.

In correspondence (read to this column) between Palmer’s people and Harland & Wolff, the ailing shipping group was reminded that Palmer is no ordinary billionaire – he is worth north of $23 billion. And he has no debt!

As a small tickle-up to prove his seriousness, Palmer has taken a 3 per cent stake in the listed Harland & Wolff, a trade he presumably managed to get under the line before the company’s shares were suspended in July.

The shipyard, which increased its loan package by $US25 million ($38 million) to stave off the corporate undertakers, is clearly a beggar but, in rejecting Palmer’s overtures, seems to still be a chooser.

Palmer was pretty hyped about the meeting with Harland & Wolff’s chairman, Russell Downs, and so nettled by the company’s last-minute cancellation, he was driven to characterise it as “some dirty deal in the making”.

Palmer is presumably publicising his rescue attempts to put pressure on the company and prompt the chairman to revisit his appointment book.

A rendering of the Titanic II, actual sailing date still TBC. Credit: Blue Star Line

Our larger-than-life billionaire had planned to meet Downs in Belfast – a diversion from the Paris Olympics trip where he is knee-deep in supporting athletics, a passion spurred during his younger years as the recipient of a high school athletic scholarship.

Suffice it to say Palmer isn’t happy with Harland & Wolff’s rejection – one that could put an iceberg-sized hole in his latest campaign to build Titanic II.

According to Palmer: “These actions should raise alarm bells. It appears to me that the company and its advisers are not acting in the best interests of its shareholders. Are they working on a dirty deal that sells them out?”

“There should be a government inquiry into Harland & Wolff,” Palmer asserted.

And Palmer is no stranger to hyperbole nor abnormal-sized aspirations.

Titanic II would be an exact replica of the ill-fated original – right down to the ballroom but with some additional luxuries such as Turkish baths.

Palmer has been pushing his Titanic dream for 14 years, but it was derailed in 2015 after he experienced financial pressure resulting from a fight with his former Chinese corporate partner Citic Pacific Mining and the collapse of his Queensland nickel refinery.

Clive Palmer installed life-size replica dinosaurs at his Coolum golf resort. Credit: Fairfax Media

The Titanic project was revived in 2018 with a proposed sailing date of 2022. Apparently, the COVID-19 pandemic blew up those plans.

These days, Palmer is the happy recipient of billions of dollars of royalties which bolster his coffers and enable him to indulge in any manner of unconventional projects.

He set up his own political party more than 10 years ago but left the federal parliament after two years, only to resurrect the party unsuccessfully in 2018.

Palmer has numerous resorts, claims a $300 million car collection, 100 (yes, one hundred) homes, and an animatronic dinosaur theme park, Palmersaurus, located at his Coolum resort in Queensland and dubbed the “world’s largest dinosaur park.”

Announcing his reinvigorated campaign to build Titanic II earlier this year, he summed up his motivation, saying: “It’s a lot more fun to do the Titanic than it is to sit at home and count my money.”

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