A Chinese company officially began building the world's first full-size replica of the Titanic on Wednesday, state news agency Xinhua reports, with the hope of turning the reincarnation of the doomed ship into a feature at a new tourist resort. China Daily reports that the owners held a “solemn ceremony” with fireworks to mark the occasion. Images shared on a Twitter account labeled “The New Titanic” also promoted the start of construction.

Unlike the original ship, the Chinese Titanic will be permanently docked at a reservoir along the Qijiang River in Sichuan's Daying County. According to Reuters, it will be part of a larger planned tourism resort from Star Energy Investment Group that will also include replicas of European castles and a "6D Holiday Experience.”

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The new ship is being built with an investment of 1 billion yuan ($145 million). It will be based on the original designs, with the iconic ballroom, as well as a theater and swimming pool, available for guests. There will also be more modern conveniences, such as WiFi, Wang Weiling, a deputy general manager of the contractor, told Xinhua.

The project's website says the replica will offer a “hit the iceberg experience” using audio-visual technology to simulate the iceberg collision that doomed the celebrated “unsinkable” passenger liner in 1912.

The U.S. firm Hollywood GC High-Tech Co. is listed on the website as being in charge of the planning and design of the replica. And Bernard Hill, an English actor who starred as Capt. Edward Smith in the 1997 film “Titanic,” is listed as a lifelong honorary captain.

“The shipyard is a builder of nuclear submarines and is technically strong,” James Wu, the China regional chief representative of America Hollywood Television and Film Media, was quoted as saying by China Daily. “But building the Titanic replica is so complicated that the U.S. firm has had to consult the shipyard constantly to figure out if it can meet the challenges of turning the design into a full-scale replica.”

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Peter Mandelson, the former British deputy prime minister, was also in attendance at the opening ceremony, according to China Daily.

Some have criticized the “New Titanic” as an inappropriate act that exploits the disaster for money. The group behind the project released a statement on Twitter last month that sought to address the criticism.