Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

A new £6.6M ship-to-shore container handling crane is Belfast Harbour’s largest-ever investment in a single piece of port equipment. The installation is part of a £40M upgrade of its Victoria Terminal 3 (VT3) container terminal. The new fully electric crane…

Bangor's lifeboat rescued four people aboard a motorboat from Carrickfergus after the boat broke down off Whitehead, and the group risked drifting into a shipping lane in Belfast Lough in fading light. A volunteer crew from Bangor RNLI was requested…

Harbours by their nature attract a myriad of marine wildlife and Bangor on Belfast Lough is no exception. Most people would associate Bangor with the guillemots that make their nests in holes in the marina wall but there is so…

A Chinese flagged heavy-lift ship which called to Dublin Port to unload a pair of rubber tyred gantry (RTG) container cranes has since departed and arrived to Belfast Harbour this morning to unload a further three, writes Jehan Ashmore. Afloat…

Bangor RNLI is appealing to get in touch with the family of a teenage paddle boarder rescued at the weekend after he was blown out into Belfast Lough. The volunteer lifeboat crew were tasked on Friday afternoon (29 May) after…

In what will be a welcome decision by the Ballyholme Yacht Club, members will now be able to proceed, albeit slowly and patiently, towards a return to watersports. Commodore Aidan Pounder has emailed members with the news that SportNI has…

Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough may still be closed but Harbour Master Kevin Baird has given berth holders a very clear and concise set of guidance notes detailing what to expect when it reopens and indeed something to look forward…

For those boat owners in Bangor Marina on Belfast Lough itching to have access to their boats and get afloat again, the latest communication from Dean & Reddyhoff and Quay Marinas will give some hope. They say that “we’re starting…

Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team on Belfast Lough was tasked on Friday afternoon after a member of the public contacted the Belfast Coastguard Operations Centre raising concern about an inflatable canoe with two people on board. The team arrived on scene at the 'Long…

Yet another event at Ballyholme has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 situation. Richard Swanston, one of Ballyholme’s long time members and Chair of Irish Multihull Association, tells me that the May Weekend of Speed had to be withdrawn from…

People may not be able to go to sea at present due to the Government restrictions but dolphins and porpoises clearly can’t read and so we are seeing reports of their activity in Belfast Lough. Recent sightings include about eight…

In the ongoing closures of marinas and harbours around the North Down Coast, Bangor Harbour’s Slipway on Belfast Lough has been closed to all activity except the launching of the lifeboat. The recent Notice to Mariners issued by the Harbour…

A new TV series beginning tomorrow night (Tuesday 14 April) on BBC One Northern Ireland puts Belfast Harbour in the starring role. Today’s Belfast Telegraph features the three-part documentary, Belfast Harbour: Cruises, Cranes and Cargo, which was filmed in the…

Ballyholme Yacht Club was to have been the venue in early July for the huge Laser Radial European Championships but the Iatest news from the EurILCA team is that due to the COVID-19 situation and expected restrictions on travel during…

The yacht Aries has been sheltering in Ballyholme Bay from the strong southerly and while Bangor Marina is closed due to COVID-19. Aries is a one-off 43 ft steel ketch owned by Simon Layton, a former UKSA instructor and friend…

Betty Amstrong explores past boatbuilding ventures in Ballyholme in the seaside town of Bangor on Belfast Lough. Did you know that before Enrico Caproni built his famous ‘Palais de Dance’ in 1928 on Seacliff Road that there was a shipyard…