Belfast Harbour Commission

Today

Belfast Harbour is Northern Ireland’s principle maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and increasingly that of the republic of Ireland.  Around 60% of Northern Ireland’s seabourne trade and 20% of the entire Island’s is handled at the Harbour which receives around 6000 vessels each year.

 Belfast Harbour:

• Is the principal gateway for imports and exports for Northern Ireland’s manufacturing and commercial sectors.
• Is the principal entry point for retail and consumer goods for the Northern Ireland market and beyond.
• Is the principal port for 1.3 million ferry passengers, including  tourists, using the port’s ferry services each year.
• Handles approximately 55% of the Northern Ireland Ferry & Container traffic.
• Is also the Island’s leading dry bulk port, dominating the market with regard to imports of grain and animal feeds, coal, fertilisers and cement, and exports of scrap and aggregates.
• Handles over 80% of Northern Ireland’s pertroleum and oil products each year.

 The Harbour is also a major centre of industry and commerce and it is the regions leading logistics and distribution home.  The Harbour Estate is also home to some of Northern Ireland’s most important urban regeneration projects including Titanic Quarter.

Today Belfast Harbour Commissioners manage a 2000 acre estate, with some 8km of quays and wharves and in excess of 2 million sq ft of warehousing with a total of 16.5million tonnes traded at the Port each year.

History

However the origins of the Port in Belfast can be traced back to 1613, when, during the reign of James I, the town was incorporated as a borough by royal charter, with provision for the establishment of a wharf or quay. As a result, a quay was constructed at the confluence of the Rivers Fearset (Farset) and Lagan and the development of the Port of Belfast began.

By the early eighteenth century the town had replaced Carrickfergus as the most important port in Ulster and additional accommodation was considered necessary. A number of privately-owned wharves were subsequently constructed on reclaimed land. Throughout the century trade continued to expand as Belfast assumed a greater role in the trading activities of the country as a whole. In 1785 the Irish Parliament passed an act to deal with the town’s burgeoning port. As a result, a new body was constituted: The Corporation for Preserving and Improving the port and Harbour of Belfast, commonly called “the Ballast Board”.

Although at this point the Port was well established it remained disadvantaged by the natural restrictions of shallow water, bends in the channel approach and inadequate quays. These problems, together with an increasing volume of trade, led to a new government act of 1837. This reconstituted the Board and gave it powers to improve the port, through the formation of a new channel. Initial work on straightening the river commenced in 1839 and by 1841 the first bend had been eliminated. The creation of what was to become the Victoria Channel had begun.

In 1847 the Belfast Harbour Act repealed previous acts and led to formation of the Belfast Harbour Commissioners. This new body, with much wider powers, completed the second stage of the new channel two years later. From that time the Commissioners have developed and improved the Port, reclaiming land to accommodate new quays, new trades and changes in shipping and cargo-handling technology. The efficient, modern port of today is evidence of the foresight and commitment of successive generations of Harbour Commissioners.