Belfast Harbour will welcome an expected 325,000 people and 10 new ships this year as part of its cruise season, an indication of the city’s “growing status” as a destination for the industry, the port operator said on Monday.
The freight and passenger hub, which is part of the Trust Port network and operated as an independent statutory body, said some 31 different cruise lines will travel in and out of the port over the seven-month cruise season, beginning on March 30th.
That amounts to about 146 calls by 57 ships, Belfast Harbour said, on pace to slightly exceed 2024’s volumes. The figure will include 13 calls from the port’s most frequent visitor, Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess.
Cruise liner Viking’s newest vessel, the Viking Vela, will be the first cruise ship to dock in the harbour this year, marking its first visit to Belfast.
Virgin Voyage’s Scarlet Lady, the cruise line’s inaugural vessel, will also arrive in Belfast for the first time ever this year.
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The harbour operator said it will also facilitate eight “turnarounds” over the season, meaning passengers will start and end their trips in Belfast, “boosting overnight stays in city hotels”.
Additionally, 10 cruise calls over the season will be staying overnight, meaning passengers have a chance to travel further in Northern Ireland, it said.
In February Belfast Harbour said it estimates cruise tourism is worth between £20 million (€24million) and £25 million to the regional economy annually.
“We are looking forward to another busy cruise season and to providing Belfast’s customary warm welcome to visitors from around the world,” said Michael Robinson, port director of Belfast Harbour.
“The cruise sector brings significant numbers of people to the city, directly supporting local tourism businesses in the economy while also boosting the profile of Northern Ireland as an international destination and we are committed to ensuring that our cruise operations are carried out in as sustainable a manner as possible.”
In January, the harbour operator unveiled plans to invest £90 million in the regeneration of its port facilities, including a new deepwater quay that will facilitate the development of wind energy projects.
“We are also looking at the funding and provision of clean power solutions for cruise vessels calling to the port in the future,” Mr Robinson said.
Last month, Belfast Harbour said some 24.1 million tonnes of goods were handled by the port in 2024, up from 23.9 million in 2023. This was down from a record 25.9 million tonnes in 2021 as global trade recovered from the initial shock of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Still, the volume of roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) freight – wheeled cargo driven directly on to ferries – that travelled through the port, where Stena Line is the main operator, increased to 617,000 freight equivalent units in 2024. This surpassed the previous record of 610,000 units in 2023.
Container volumes grew 3 per cent from 2023 to 124,000, which the harbour operator described as a “positive outcome” after two years of lower volumes that followed the pandemic-induced boom in 2021 when 131,000 container units travelled through the port.
