HE’S famous for his hit song sailing – and now pop legend Rod Stewart is hoping for no “stormy waters’’ when he leaves Southampton on a special Titanic centenary voyage next year.

Rod, who appropriately recorded an album called Atlantic Crossing, looks set to join Fred Olsen Cruise Line’s Southampton-based vessel Balmoral when she departs the city on a cruise to mark the 100th anniversary of Titanic’s loss in April, 1912.

It seems Rod has a keen interest in Titanic’s history, and a transatlantic crossing to visit the site of the sinking is on his “bucket list’’ of things to do before he dies.

However, Rod is likely to be travelling on his own as his wife, Penny, suffers from seasickness.

The 66-year-old performer said: “I would very much like to be on the ship doing the Titanic run.

“Amazing that next April it is 100 years, but I can’t get my wife to go because she suffers from seasickness on the Atlantic – she prefers a nice Caribbean cruise.

“So, I might just go on my own.

The ship is leaving from Southampton and sailing to New York and keeping to the exact route, passing over where Titanic went down.

“Is it tempting fate? No, things have moved on since 1912.

“None of the icebergs come down that far south any more, and if they did, they’d blow them up.”

A second Titanic cruise will leave from New York, but Rod is keen to take the original passage from Southampton.

The commemoration cruise by Balmoral will include a memorial service in the early hours of the morning of April 15, 2012, above the wreck of the ill-fated liner in the Atlantic, exactly 100 years after the ship sank beneath the waves.

Of the 1,523 people who lost their lives, when Titanic struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage, 549 came from Southampton.

Find out more about Titanic

You can find out more about Titanic and the disaster's impact on Southampton with the Daily Echo.

Throughout the coming months ahead of the centenary in April, we will be showcasing unique content in our Titanic mini-site.

In the meantime, you can discover key sites across the city relating to the tragedy, the latest news relating to the ship or even find out some of the key facts behind the vessel, her demise and the people who perished and survived, including a list of all the crew members and the locations of their homes in Southampton.