Belfast Harbour has announced a £90m investment into its facilities for the wind energy industry and cruise ships. The investment is part of a £300m spending plan to be carried out over the next five years. The investment will improve the facilities available for cruise ships, with the aim that more cruises begin and end in Belfast rather than just making a brief stop. There will also be upgrades to facilities in the wind energy sector.
150 cruise ships stopped at Belfast in 2019, with 260,000 passengers and crew members. Changing the facilities would allow bigger ships to board customers and for cruises to start and end in the city, which will involve relocating the cruise terminal to a new site on Airport Road West. The proposed relocations have already been granted planning permission, and the new facilities are expected to be ready by late 2027 or early 2028.
Joe O’Neill, the Chief Executive of Belfast Harbour, explained that the airport-like terminal was necessary to create turnaround cruises, where vacationers come to Belfast to board the ship and complete a seven-day cruise before coming back. By creating such amenities, Belfast Harbor hopes to attract cruise companies and passengers. Additionally, this move will free up space to expand the marshalling area for wind turbines.
Currently, investment in Belfast Harbour is funded by its retained earnings rather than borrowing money, but it intends to borrow money to fund larger projects. The Harbour wants to be reclassified as a private corporation, and to allow that to happen, the law needs to be changed, with a consequent reduction in the role of the Infrastructure Minister to appoint the Harbour Board. This means that any debt taken on will no longer count as part of Stormont’s capital budget. The Department of Infrastructure is already undergoing a consultation on the subject, similar to changes in Scottish laws that allowed for legal reclassification of ports
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More