THE WHITE STAR LINE OPERATED BETWEEN 1845 AND 1936 AND HAD APPROXIMATELY 120 SHIPS,WHEN IN 1936 SHE WAS TAKEN OVER BY HER OLD RIVAL, CUNARD STEAMSHIP COMPANY, THE COMPANY WAS NOW KNOWN AS THE CUNARD-WHITE STAR STEAMSHIP CO.IN 1957 THE WHITE STAR PART OF THE NAME WAS DROPPED THE COMPANY RETURNING TO ITS FORMER NAME OF CUNARD.
Let’s assume I’m a trillionare and want to build the Titannic.
Do I have to ask Cunard for permission to use 'Titannic'?
Can I build it EXACTLY like the original and sail it around?
I know it won't have all the safety stuff like modern ships.
OK, I won't use coal.
Can I just build it and park it in Liverpool or New York for a tourist attraction?
Liberia is popular for ship registration because they don’t have the stringent regulations of othre countries. No doubt a well heeled trillionaire could find a country to flag his ship that would allow an exact duplicate of the original Titanic right down to the name. As for the name you may run into problems if it’s a registered trademark. Sailing to New York would be a different matter as the US cost gauard may refuse it for safety reasons. I’m sure the same would be true in the UK.
I believe the blueprints for the original Titanic still exist, but I think they are the property of the Cunard Line, so replicating the Titanic would require their permission and cooperation. After the James Cameron movie was released, there was talk of building a replica of the Titanic.
In January, 1998, millionaire Sarel Gous, a South African businessman, founded a new company, RMS Titanic Shipping Holdings, whose sole aim, it was announced, was to construct a full-size replica of Titanic. Instantly, as with most Titanic-related things, the news had swept the world. Two months later, Gous announced that he had managed to acquire a full set of plans from Harland & Wolff in Belfast: what he neglected to say was that anyone can buy them, they’re one of the top sellers at H&W! Many people thought that the plans would be virtually useless anyway, in terms of safety and modern construction techniques, and again, Gous was left looking embarrassed.
His next announcement was a little bit strange too: he told the world’s press that his Titanic replica would commence construction in July, a mere six months after creating the company, and only four months since acquiring the plans. Yet to this day, no ship has ever been designed, let alone built. Sarel Gous’ project did eventually do something exactly as per the original - it sank!
I suspect you’d fall foul of regulations if you were to build an exact replica - you would at the very least need to modify the design and specification to meet modern safety standards - like having enough lifeboats, for example.
As long as you agreed not to board more than 700 (or whatever) passengers and crew, the number of lifeboats would not be a problem. Sell only First Class tickets, for example. Updating to radar and other communications and navigation equipment would not really affect the design, materially, so you could make an exact duplicate of the hull and superstructure and include the new electronics without offending any but the most idiotic purists.
I suspect that there would be a bit more trouble with such items as the watertight compartments and other structural issues with the ship. (There are a (very few) ancient freighters still sailing.)
I’m not sure that the name would be an issue. It seems that I have seen more than one ship sharing a name. (This is possible because official communications include the ship’s port of registry, so that there are never exact duplicates. I know of no law to prevent anyone from using a name. The famous liner Normandy of the mid-20th century is echoed by an Irish ferry, today. (The liner was the SteamS*hip Normady* while the ferry is the Motor Vessel Normandy, but the basic name is still Normandy. Great Lakes Towing names their standard sized tugs after states, so they have a couple that shared names with ancient battleships and recent nuclear submarines.
The U S Navy had a carrier USS America at the same time that the liner SS America was still in use and the Brits had a liner and a battleship both named Queen Elizabeth (HMS and SS). If the navies can stand to share names, I suspect that names are not protected.
Having enough wealth to purchase not only the opulent fixtures, but engines that no one has built in over 60 years might present rather more of a problem.
There was either a Popular Science or a Popular Mechanics (I forget which) a couple of years ago that had an article on a couple of different schemes for replica Titanics. And it went into the design features you’d likely have to modernize. (Like a Diesel powerplant to replace the coal boilers, etc.) You might find it an interesting read, if you can find it.