Trifter

Image via Wikipedia

In a move which straddles the boundary between bad taste and tempting fate, a trans-Atlantic cruise is being offered in 2012 to mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Organisers have pledged to offer food that matches the menus of the original voyage, along with lectures from historians, and entertainment from the era. Whether or not there will also be a historically accurate shortage of lifeboats, the brochure fails to mention.

The aptly named Titanic Memorial Cruise is scheduled to leave port on April 8, 2012, cruising out of Southampton, exactly 100 years to the day after the ill-fated ship. Should it avoid all floating ice in its path, it is due to arrive at the spot in the North Atlantic where the Titanic sank one week later. At that point, a service will be held onboard in remembrance of those who lost their lives. Unlike the original ship, the cruise will then continue its journey to Halifax, where passengers can visit the cemeteries containing the graves of those who perished, before docking in New York, the Titanic’s intended destination.

With the original ship still resting on the ocean floor, organisers Miles Morgan Travel have chartered the Balmoral, a ship capable of carrying approximately half as many passengers as her unsinkable, but ultimately sunken, cousin. Industry news suggests that the cabins are selling fast, despite their hefty price tags, in a display of the enduring interest in one of the world’s worst maritime disasters. The Olympic-class liner and her disastrous maiden voyage still capture the imagination a century on, offering a contrasting tale of romantic luxury and the tragic loss of life. Intended to be the largest, most opulent ship ever built, the Titanic gave its passengers four days of exquisite comforts before delivering many of them to a watery grave. Millionaires, businessmen, politicians and artists were among those who succumbed to the same fate as the cooks and cabin-boys of the ships crew. Along with novels and documentaries, a multitude of films have been made about the Titanic, including the James Cameron epic which became the highest grossing movie ever.

Whilst the memorial cruise promises to draw the crowds, there are those who have questioned the perhaps macabre similarities between it and the original journey. What might we expect next, a high-speed drive through the Parisian streets in honour of Princess Diana? A New York fly-by in honour of 9/11? Whatever the intentions of the organisers, and those who take up their places on the Balmoral, there is the nagging feeling that the method employed in this memorial is perhaps a little ghoulish, profiting from tragedy through the guise of legitimate commemoration. Certainly, none of the original passengers will be there to trace that century old journey, the last, Millvina Dean, having died in May 2009. Our fascination with the Titanic already threatens to destroy the remains of the ship itself, with scientists suggesting that repeated visits from submersibles are hastening the deterioration of the wreck. Perhaps now is the time to let the memories of those lost at sea, along with the ship itself, rest in peace.

On a closing note, it is worth mentioning that the Balmoral is owned by Fred Olsen, whose parent company Harland and Wolff built the Titanic. Let’s hope that their iceberg detection machines have improved since then.