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Belfast Lough
S.S. Nomadic, the purpose built White Star liner tender which AFLOAT adds served out of Cherbourg, France,  is preserved as a static museum attraction that forms part of Titanic Belfast centre
So it's full steam ahead at one of Ireland's most popular visitor attractions as profits at Titanic Belfast increased last year by 63% to £4.2m. According to the Belfast Telegraph, in the 12 months to the end of last March, more…
Julian Cooke and Jackie Patton sailing a 505 in Ballyholme Bay in 1985
Jackie Patton, chair of RYANI and Donaghadee Sailing Club member, is on a mission. She used to crew a 505 and along with Thomas Anderson, ex 505 helmsman and crew and past Commodore of Royal North of Ireland YC, is…
An archive photo of the Pickie-to-Pier race prize giving. David McCullough (second-right-front-row) with the Lyttle Trophy
Today you couldn’t swim across Bangor Bay on Belfast Lough without skirting the Marina but from 1910 till the 80s the ‘Pickie to Pier’ annual sea swim saw many participants taking part in the 650-metre race from Skippingstone Beach, beside…
Junior Icebreaker winners at Balyholme Yacht Club
Olympian Matt McGovern returned for the final race of part one of the Icebreaker Series on Belfast Lough and showed enough class and speed in the very light winds to show the rest of the Laser fleet the way home.…
Bangor Town Regatta is expecting 60 yachts for the 2020 edition on June 25th
Bangor Town Regatta on Belfast Lough hopes to attract more than 60 boats and build on the success of the 2018 event, the formal launch of the regatta was told writes Betty Armstrong. Charles Hurst Jaguar Land Rover is the…
Chris Welsh's Super Falcon submarine where the plan to take piloted expeditions to the deepest point in each of the world’s five oceans
It’s a long way from Ballyholme near Bangor to Sugardock in Point Richmond on San Francisco Bay writes Betty Armstrong. But James Espey has made the leap and works as boat captain for Chris Welsh, among whose job titles are…
Artemis Technologies CEO Iain Percy OBE, right, joins Jonas Pederson, Managing Director at Tuco Marine, to announce a Joint Venture that will produce the world’s first zero emissions workboat
Artemis Technologies, the world’s leading high-performance maritime design and applied technologies company, will collaborate with Tuco Marine Group to integrate its new electric eFoiler propulsion system into an 11m carbon fibre vessel. This will serve as a demonstrator vessel as…
According to BBC Newsline, people living along the shores of Belfast Lough (above) say they're opposed to the development of a major oil importation facility close to their homes. The plan would see large tankers docking near Whitehead to pump off fuel. Those opposed to the plans say they don't fit with everything the public is being told about climate change and the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Afloat adds also above a cargoship inbound to Belfast Harbour while a ferry heads out of port.
Along the shores of Belfast Lough, people living in the area have said they cannot understand the logic for the expansion of an oil facility that would see large tankers offloading fuel several times a month. The £20m project, reports…
Harland and Wolff win first contract since takeover.
Shipyard Harland and Wolff has won its first contract since it was taken over by the London-listed group InfraStrata. The new parent company of the historic Belfast shipyard said that Harland and Wolff had secured a contract for the “dockings…
InfraStrata moved in to rescue the ship yard after its previous owner got into financial difficulty.
Harland & Wolff's new owner is to take possession of the historic Belfast shipyard today as it pays £3.3m to the administrators of the business. According to the Belfast Telegraph, Infrastrata plc plans to use the shipyard which built the Titanic…
The visiting cruise liner MSC-Meraviglia in Belfast Harbour
Belfast Harbour has been named the best port of call in the UK and Ireland for cruise ships. The accolade was awarded by a global panel of cruise experts as part of the 2019 Cruise Critic Editors’ Pick Awards. It…
The Stand Up Paddleboarding Fundraiser at Bangor Harbour
It’s not often a Notice to Mariners is issued by Bangor Harbour on Belfast Lough for a paddleboarding event but this was the case when a fundraiser was held in the Harbour on a very cold Sunday morning (1st Dec)…
Royal Ulster Yacht Club Goblet - Could Afloat Readers Solve This Australian Mystery?
Recently Royal Ulster Yacht Club was contacted by a Mr Andre Jaku of Melbourne, Australia about a goblet he had bought from Leonard Joel’s Auction house in the city.  It was listed as silver and was engraved with the words: …
Bangor promenade beside the marina
Another project in addition to the Bangor Queen’s Parade development on the County Down coast mentioned recently in Afloat, should see the enhancement of a two-mile stretch of the coast from the west of the Bangor Harbour all the way through…
Bangor Marine heads a major £50m regeneration project of Queen’s Parade in the town
Since Victorian times until about thirty years ago, Queens Parade in Bangor was a thriving seaside thoroughfare with shops, hotels, a cinema, and ice cream vendors all colourfully set in a row, attracting hundreds to that part of the town…
The Harland & Wolf shipyard located in the east of Belfast Harbour
London-listed company, Infrastrata that is taking over Harland & Wolff, could bring major shipbuilding projects back to Belfast after confirming plans to work with Navantia, the Spanish state-owned shipbuilding company. According to The Irish Times, Infrastrata has signed a memorandum…