Belfast Harbour (also Port of Belfast) is a major maritime gateway in Northern Ireland, serving the Northern Ireland economy and increasingly that of the Republic of Ireland[1]. With almost 1.2 million passengers and half a million freight units annually, Belfast is Ireland's second largest maritime gateway.
It is a major centre of industry and commerce and has become established as the focus of logistics activity for Northern Ireland. Around two thirds of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole, is handled at the port which receives over 6000 vessels each year.[2]. The Port of Belfast is located at the centre of Northern Ireland’s largest industrial and commercial zone with two thirds of the region’s major industrial employers located within 15 km of the Port.
It is Ireland's leading dry bulk port, dominating the market with regard to imports of grain and animal feeds, coal, fertilisers and cement. Over 95% of Northern Ireland's petroleum and oil products are also handled at the Port.[3]
The Port and its land have been valued recently at over £10 billion.
Contents |
During World War II the Port of Belfast was used by the Royal Navy as the home base for many of the ships that escorted Atlantic and Russian convoys including Captain-class frigates of the 3rd Escort Group. HMS Caroline is a First World War light cruiser permanently berthed within Belfast Harbour and currently serves as the training ship for some 130 reservists as the headquarters for the Ulster Division Royal Naval Reserve. She is the second oldest commissioned warship in the Royal Navy.
Belfast West Power Station (formerly Power Station West) was opened in 1961 on a site within the port subleased to the Belfast Corporation Electricity Department. This subleased is today held by Northern Ireland Electricity. The station continued to generate electricity until its closure in March 2002. On 6 July 2007 the station's three 240 ft (73 m) chimneys were demolished by controlled explosion and the remainder of the site was cleared in the following months.[4] The site continues to be managed by NIE on behalf of the utility regulator which has stated that the various conditions of the lease "suggest that the best use for the site going forward is electrical generation."[5]
Belfast Harbour is a brand created to promote the maritime business interests of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. The Commissioners were created by an Act of Parliament in 1847 and the organisation is often referred to as "Trust Port", i.e. their role is to manage, maintain, and improve the port of Belfast.[6]
The Commissioners currently number fifteen and are led by a Chairman. The positions are remunerated and are for terms of four years. All of the Commissioners with the exception of the Chief Executive are non-executives.
The current Commissioners (December 2009) are:[6]
Len O'Hagan (Chairman), Roy Adair (CEO), Noel Brady, Councillor David Browne, Trefor Campbell, Councillor Patrick Convery, Peter Curistan, Peter Dixon, Ronnie Foreman, Councillor Danny Lavery, Mary McMahon, Steve Pollard, Ross Reed, Councillor David Rodway and David Russell.
The port handled 15.7 million tonnes of freight in 2009. Stena Line's Belfast-Stanraer route and Belfast-Heysham service together carried 307,000 freight vehicles. This figure represents 20% of the Irish Sea Ro-Ro market. 125,000 containers and 6.0 million tonnes of bulk cargo were handled in 2009.[6] Stena Line now runs between Belfast and Birkenhead. The two ships that run that way are called Stena Lagan and Stena Mersey.
1.3 million passengers used the port's ferry services in 2009.[6] Routes from the Port of Belfast include:
It is increasingly popular with cruise liners, with 35 ships visiting in 2009.[6]
The 2 cruise berths that are used are the Pollock dock for smaller ships and the Stormont Wharf (deep water berth) for larger ships, The extended Stormont Wharf was opened on 30 June 2009 by the Grand Princess.
Pollock Dock: (Length 457M, depth 8.5m) Stormont Wharf (Length 177M, depth 10.2m)
Belfast Harbour has extensive property interests spread over approximately 1,950 acres (7.9 km2). 855 acres are used directly for port operations, 90 acres (360,000 m2) are reserved for nature conservation and the remaining 1,005 are either leased or under negotiation.[7]
Belfast Harbour's largest property project is the Titanic Quarter, which is "co-promoted" with Titanic Quarter Limited.
Belfast Harbour Commissioners and its partners made the first planning application for Holywood Exchange (previously known as D5 or Harbour Exchange) on 14 November 1995. Planning permission was granted twice and then successfully challenged. The third time planning permission was granted it was again challenged, but this time unsuccessfully. Construction began in December 2002 and when completed the development consisted of an 11 unit 13,940 m2 (150,000 ft2) retail warehouse centre, a Sainsbury's store and service station, and a B&Q store. A 29,000 m2 (312,000 ft2) IKEA store opened on 13 December 2007.
The Odyssey arena and pavilion is built on land owned by The Odyssey Trust under a 150 year lease with Belfast Harbour Commissioners.[8]
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||