Titanic centenary marked in Belfast – its first port of call

Infamous ship was launched from Northern Ireland city before heading to Southampton for ill-fated madien voyage in 1912 Launched from its dockland 100 years ago, Belfast is to mark the ill-fated first voyage of the Titanic. The ship’s hull was launched into the mouth of the river Lagan in Belfast Lough on 31 May 1911 by Harland & Wolff, which was then the largest shipyard in the world. To commemorate the event, a religious service will be held at the docks and a flare will be set off at 12.13pm – the exact time of the launch a century on. The passenger liner later sank after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York in April 1912. It took three years to build the RMS Titanic and just 62 seconds to complete the launch. The most famous ship to sink in modern history is now being used to relaunch a neglected quarter of Belfast. Up to £7bn has been invested in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter and an interactive visitor centre is due to open in 2012. The new centre which is modelled on the shape of a cruise liner will be the centrepiece of the quarter that Belfast city council and Tourism Ireland hope will attract thousands of visitors, particularly from North America. An exhibition about the Titanic will run from this weekend at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum until 31 August. Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said: “No ship has gripped the world’s imagination like RMS Titanic. “Her remarkable story begins at her birthplace in Belfast, and we highly recommend visitors to Belfast to discover the story of her creation through this exhibition.” The Titanic Northern Ireland Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk

Posted by on May 31, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.