"The shipyard is a builder of nuclear submarines and is technically strong. But building the Titanic replica is so complicated that the US 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," said James Wu, China regional chief representative of America Hollywood Television and Film Media Inc.

Wu, a US citizen, said GC High-Tech is part of America Hollywood Television and Film Media.

Wuchang Shipyard only started building components for the replica in April and is expected to finish all components by August next year, according to Wang Zhigang, general manager of the Wuhan Branch of China Classification Society, which sets technical criteria for, and oversees, shipyards.

The interior and exterior of the replica will be built according to the Titanic's original design.

Su Shaojun, chairman of Qixing Energy Investment in Zhejiang province, which is the investor of the replica, said the replica's interior would include the cruise ship's large banquet hall and first-class guesthouse.

"After the RMS Titanic sank, nobody saw its complete set of blueprints. Many blueprint fragments found their way into the hands of collectors or remained missing. We spent many years collecting the blueprints from many parts of the world and managed to obtain most of them," Su said.

It is unknown when the replica will open to visitors, but preorders for overnight stays were first accepted in Hong Kong in June 2005, with tickets for a one-night, economy-class stay starting at about 3,000 yuan ($435), and the price for a luxury fare amounting to hundreds of thousands of yuan.