Titanic Belfast opens

Titanic Belfast is a new visitor attraction that opens on March 31 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The new six-story structure overlooks the slipways where the Titanic was built. The ill-fated passenger liner sank after hitting an iceberg in the Atlantic on the night of April 15, 1912, with the loss of 1,517 lives.

A tour guide talks to visitors at the Thompson Graving dock in the Titanic Quarter. The 880-foot-long graving dock, or dry dock, is where the Titanic was fitted out.

The panels lining the walls of the Titanic Belfast atrium are the same size and texture as those fitted to the hull of the famous ship. Northern Ireland hopes the eye-catching center will kick-start its tourism economy and encourage travelers from all over to visit the province.

Visitors look down on a projection showing images of the wreck of the Titanic on the seabed at the Titanic Belfast museum.

The Titanic's Grand Staircase was made famous in James Cameron's 1997 movie of the doomed ship. A replica can be seen at the Titanic Belfast.

A woman looks at 3D projections of the inside of the Titanic on display in the new $157 million Titanic Belfast attraction. The Titanic -- the world's largest, most luxurious ocean liner at the time it was built -- left this spot on April 2, 1912, on its maiden voyage from England to New York. Twelve days later, it struck an iceberg off the coast of Newfoundland and sank in the early hours of April 15.

A computer-generated image shows the first-class accommodations that were available aboard the Titanic.

Computer video projections of passengers are displayed in a re-creation of a second-class cabin at the Titanic Belfast.

A re-creation of a third-class cabin, complete with computer-video projections of passengers, is displayed at the Titanic Belfast.

A visitor walks past projections showing boomtown Belfast at Belfast Titanic.

A boy runs across an interactive projection of the Harland and Wolff Drawing Office at Titanic Belfast. The offices were where the plans for the Titanic, Olympic and Britannic were prepared.

The Titanic Belfast visitor center includes a replica of a Titanic lifeboat.

A model-like sculpture of the Titanic is on display at the Titanic Belfast. The new museum, with its four prow-like wings jutting skyward, stands by the River Lagan on the site of the old Harland and Wolff shipyard.

A visitor uses his phone to snap a photo of the slipway at Titanic Belfast.

A woman looks at the hull of a ship in one of the galleries of the new Titanic Belfast.

A selection of Titanic memorabilia is displayed for sale at The Pump House in The Titanic Quarter, a waterfront project that includes the new museum.

An exterior view of Titanic Belfast. The museum tells the story of the Titanic from the ship's construction in Belfast to her sinking in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage 100 years ago.

A replica of a Titanic White Star Line cup and saucer can be seen at Titanic Belfast.

A projection shows images of the wreck of the Titanic on the seabed at the Titanic Belfast.

A compass design decorates the lobby of Titanic Belfast.

The world's biggest Titanic visitor attraction is set to open its doors 100 years after the doomed ocean liner was completed in the same shipyard.