[note 1] The project was announced by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer in April 2012 as the flagship of the proposed cruise company Blue Star Line Pty.

The company would remain silent on the project for over five years and did not release any further updates relating to the ocean liner until 13 March 2024, when it was announced that Titanic II would set its maiden voyage in June 2027.

[12] The article discussed the changes to the original design required to produce a safe and economically viable ship, including a welded rather than riveted hull, diesel-electric propulsion in place of steam engines, and a bulbous bow.

[15] The design changed repeatedly, with claims emerging of 'the world's largest liner' with capacity for 2,600 passengers, and increasingly divergent plans for a heliport, swimming pools and discos eventually being released.

[16] Clive Palmer first announced the project in a press conference on 30 April 2012,[17] following the signature of a memorandum of understanding with state-owned Chinese shipyard CSC Jinling ten days before.

[18] On 19 June, it was announced that Finnish naval architecture firm Deltamarin Ltd. had been commissioned to undertake the design of the ship,[19][20] and on 17 July a preliminary general arrangement was published.

[26][27] The gala dinner in London (UK) was held at the Natural History Museum on 2 March, and was accompanied by a display of items salvaged from the Titanic.

[32][33] On 17 July 2013, Blue Star Line announced that the classification society Lloyd's Register has joined the Titanic II project.

[39] Propulsion would have been by three azimuth thrusters which would also be used for maneuvering, while the replica of the rudder of the Titanic II is purely cosmetic, and would not have extended substantially below the waterline.

[46] Palmer had previously claimed that he was the target of a conspiracy involving Barack Obama, the CIA, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Greenpeace, who he believed were attempting to close down his mining operation.

[49] He has gained a reputation in Australia for floating ambitious and unusual business ideas which he fails to see through, and the Titanic II has been described as "a classic Clive Palmer announcement.

[51] Charles Haas, president of the U.S.-based Titanic International Society, questioned both its appropriateness and commercial viability, telling Scientific American, "It's a matter of sensitivity, respect and thoughtfulness ... we commemorate tragedies and those lost in them, not duplicate them".

[52] The New York Times quoted Haas as saying, "As good as the Titanic was in her day, it would be a practical and financial disaster" due to the relative lack of onboard activities and modern amenities such as theaters, casinos, and waterslides, compared to today's cruise ships.

"[54] Palmer's alleged use of funds drawn from Queensland Nickel for the Titanic II project was criticized by the administrators appointed for that company after it closed.

In their April 2016 report, the administrators stated that payments from Queensland Nickel to Blue Star Line had been "uncommercial and director-related transactions".

Citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a major factor, prior plans for the ship did not push through, while promising the contract tender for the construction released and signed by June and December 2024, respectively.