As we commemorate the centenary of the sinking of the Titanic it's amazing the level of interest that tragic event still attracts 100 years on.
Perhaps it was brought back into people's minds thanks to the film-making abilities of James Cameron or perhaps it was the fact 1517 lives were lost when the Titanic struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.
Maybe it's because those who survived as well as the families of those who died and their descendants have gone on to keep the memories alive. There is a whole stand of books on the disaster, they have just released the 3D version of Cameron's Oscar-winning film and a short television series about the event started on Friday night.
The lives lost when the Titanic went down were almost half the number of people who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. One would imagine those around in another 89 years will be commemorating the 100-year anniversary of that event and that there will be many books written and films made about that day as well.
I've seen the movie Titanic several times. I remember crying throughout the first sitting and wondering what it must have been like for the passengers and crew. It is difficult not to think of the Titanic every time my other half mentions that he'd like to go on a cruise. I also think of the 20 or more lives lost on the Costa Concordia when it went down off the coast of Italy earlier this year and the interesting time my in-laws had in 2008 when they were aboard the Pacific Sun which rolled sharply in stormy weather - leaving 42 people injured or seasick.
