Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Coastguard and Lifeboat rescue teams have been extremely busy over the Easter Weekend and of course, answer distress calls without hesitation. But Belfast Coastguard Operations Centre has reported a hoax call. Both Bangor and Portaferry Coastguard Rescue Teams were tasked…

Even the weather played ball for the Return to Water at Ballyholme Yacht Club on Belfast Lough this Easter weekend. And there was no shortage of members keen to get afloat. Commodore Aidan Pounder kicked the day off with an…

 It isn't an April Fool! Thursday will be to Bangor Marina berth holders the end of a long-awaited return to their craft after a roller coaster of lockdown, opening up and lockdown again over the past year. In Harbour Master…

Scientists from NUI Galway and Seasearch Ireland are asking divers and marina users to keep an eye out for Undaria pinnatifida, commonly known as Wakame or Japanese kelp. This species was first recorded in Belfast Lough, Northern Ireland in 2012,…

Belfast Lough based Artemis Technologies, which is leading a programme to develop a new class of zero-emission high-speed vessels, has unveiled the world's most advanced marine simulator in Northern Ireland. The simulator represents a multi-million-pound investment over the past decade…

A mother and daughter were hospitalised after going overboard from a ferry in Belfast Lough on Thursday evening (25 February). As BBC News reports, the pair were rescued from the water by emergency response crews from the Stena Horizon and…

Northern Ireland's biggest sailing event, Bangor Town Regatta, scheduled for June has been cancelled due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions. The Belfast Lough biennial event has sadly joined the queue of cancelled sailing events this year. Chairman of the BTR Organising…

Staff numbers at Artemis Technologies, which is leading a Belfast Lough-based consortium to decarbonise maritime, are expected to almost treble to 70 by the end of 2021 and rise to 100 by this time next year. It is part of…

Queen's Parade on the seafront in Bangor on Belfast Lough has been largely derelict for well over twenty years. But just this week the Ards and North Down Borough Council approved a £50m scheme for large scale redevelopment of the…

Bangor Coastguard has issued a warning after a surfer was spotted close to an inbound Stena ferry in Belfast Lough on Monday (25 January) as Afloat reported earlier here. As the Belfast Telegraph reports, a team from Bangor Coastguard kept…

Belfast Coastguard Rescue team was contacted this week by the Stena Superfast ferry inbound to Belfast in the shipping channel near Holywood. On Monday, January 25th the ferry had encountered a lone paddleboarder dangerously close to the vessel. Holywood is…

Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough is switching its electricity to a renewable source with immediate effect.  Marina Manager Kevin Baird said the marina takes its responsibility to the environment seriously and is constantly looking at ways in which it can reduce…

The Maritime Mile is an initiative developed by Maritime Belfast Trust and is a curated experience that connects and celebrates Belfast's vibrant heritage waterfront. It was set up originally to deliver the Titanic Belfast Visitor attraction and now includes many…

“Good news everyone”, the natives have returned...” It’s not your average title to a scientific paper, but this one has reason to celebrate - hailing the return of native oysters to Belfast Lough after a century. The paper by Bangor…

Peter Bullick is well known in sailing circles in Northern Ireland and has long been a familiar face associated with volunteering for the RNLI. He enjoys cruising to the west coast of Scotland and has ventured as far as St…

Last Wednesday (January 6th) Bangor Coastguard Team answered a report of a cetacean washed up on Crawfordsburn Beach on Belfast Lough. It was identified on social media as a Common Dolphin and it was suggested that the find should be…