About Maritime Belfast Trust
In April 2015, the Titanic Foundation Limited (TFL), the charity owning Titanic Belfast, the world's largest Titanic visitor attraction, took ownership of the SS Nomadic as part of their remit to protect and promote the maritime and industrial heritage of Belfast. SS Nomadic is operated by Titanic Belfast Limited (TBL), Titanic Belfast's commercial operator.
In collaboration with Titanic Belfast Limited, it was recognised that there would be significant benefits in joining up the operations of both Titanic Belfast and the SS Nomadic; advancing the development and promotion of Titanic Quarter as an authentic and international maritime heritage destination; and to engage, and to continue to educate and maximise opportunities for local communities across Belfast and Northern Ireland to understand and share this heritage.
In November 2020, a new chapter began for Titanic Foundation Ltd, the charity responsible for promoting and preserving Belfast’s maritime heritage, as it became known as Maritime Belfast Trust. Their key responsibilities in respect of Titanic Belfast, SS Nomadic, Titanic Hotel Belfast and the Great Light remain unchanged, as does their commitment to help deliver Belfast’s waterfront as a vibrant, accessible heritage destination.
About SS Nomadic
The SS Nomadic is the last remaining White Star Line ship anywhere in the world, an authentic piece of Belfast’s maritime heritage and the biggest Titanic artefact. Designed and built by Harland and Wolff in 1910-11, the ship has many of the same luxurious finishes as RMS Titanic, and is a quarter of the size.
Built to be a tender ship for the White Class Liners Olympic and Titanic, Nomadic took passengers, luggage and ships’ stores to and from the liners when they were moored off ports that weren’t deep enough to accommodate them. In June 1911, Nomadic was sent to Cherbourg in June 1911 to commence tendering duties, and in 1912 transported 274 passengers out to RMS Titanic when it docked there in April.
Since then Nomadic has had a varied career. She saw active service in both World Wars as a troop carrier, and also also carried thousands of passengers out to the world’s great liners in Cherbourg, including the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, before spending decades in Paris as a floating restaurant and party venue.
In 2005 Nomadic was languishing in Le Havre when local enthusiasts became aware of its plight, and began a campaign to ‘Save the Nomadic’ from scrappage. The Department for Social Development stepped in and bought Nomadic in 2006, bringing it home later that year. The Nomadic Charitable Trust was set up to oversee its restoration and conservation, and the ship opened to the public in 2013. Once opened, the Nomadic Charitable Trust recognised that they shared the same objectives as Titanic Foundation Limited and agreed that they would transfer their assets over and subsequently wind up to create greater operational synergies and sustainability across Titanic Quarter.
LATEST NEWS
August 2024 A new maritime adventure, The Maritime Mile Blueway Trail, opens to visitors on Belfast’s iconic waterfront. Full story
September 2023 One of SS Nomadic’s original lifeboats has been reunited with the ship following the donation of the lifeboat to the Maritime Belfast Trust from the Nomadic Preservation Society. Full story
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