MS Balmoral is retracing the
planned route of the RMS
Titanic, which sank 100 years
ago on 15 April 1912.
ONE of the most hyped voyages in modern
cruising, the ‘Titanic Memorial Cruise’ set sail
from Southampton on Sunday to
commemorate a century since the historic
liner hit an iceberg and caused the deaths of
1,514 people.
The chartered ship, the 1,350-guest Balmoral,
encountered its first hitch yesterday when it
was delayed by bad weather and arrived two
hours late at Cobh, in southern Ireland.
But thousands of spectators gathered at the
town’s port to welcome the passengers and crew.
Cobh was the Titanic’s last port of call before
it set out across the Atlantic Ocean in April 1912.
The Balmoral will now continue across the
North Atlantic, arriving this weekend at the
site of the tragedy (41 43’57″N, 49 56’49″W)
where two memorial services will be held.
The first will start at 11.40pm on 14 April,
the time and date when the Titanic hit the
iceberg, and the second in the early hours of
15 April, when it sank.
The 12-day voyage also visits Halifax, Nova
Scotia, the final resting place of many who
were aboard the Titanic, and New York, its
final scheduled destination.
Balmoral is carrying passengers from 28
countries, including Australia.
Other participants include relatives of some
of the people who died aboard the Titanic, as
well as relatives of survivors.
Many passengers and crew are dressed in
period costumes and they are dining on meals
from the Titanic’s menu.
A live band is also playing music of the era,
in tribute to the musicians who reportedly
played their instruments until the ship sank.
Lectures are being conducted by authors,
historians and Philip Littlejohn, grandson of a
Titanic survivor.
Balmoral is operated by Fred Olsen Cruise
Lines, whose parent company, Harland and
Wolff, built the Titanic in Belfast.
Another company is publishing “real-time
tweets” of the Titanic’s fateful voyage via a
Twitter account: @titanicrealtime.
