SS Nomadic

The luxury ferry SS Nomadic was built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast 1911. The Nomadic took first class passengers to the great liner Titanic, which sank with the loss of more than 1,500 people in 1912.

The SS Nomadic is the last of the White Star ships and an important link to the Titanic story. The Department for Social Development has brought the Nomadic home to Belfast and is setting up a charitable trust to raise funds and look after her restoration.

Work Starts to renew Nomadic's superstructure

The 100 year link between the SS Nomadic and Harland & Wolff has been rekindled. The shipyard made famous for building the Titanic has just been awarded a £2m contract to carry out restoration work on the Nomadic’s superstructure and steelwork almost 100 years after constructing her. Work started on the project on 31st January and is scheduled to be completed by the end of July.

The award of this £2million contract will help restore and revamp Nomadic's 100 year old superstructure and steelwork, getting it ready for Titanic’s 2012 celebrations. The £2m contract has been awarded under the Peace 111 Fund operated by Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) and will primarily cover work associated with the re-establishing and the erection of the bridge deck and the flying bridge deck.

The Special EU Programmes Body

The Special EU Programmes Body awarded £2.27 million of PEACE III funding to the restoration of SS Nomadic.

Funded by the European Union under the PEACE III Programme the project will foster a greater understanding of an important chapter in Northern Ireland’s history. It will create a shared space in which all sections of the community can openly discuss their different backgrounds, learn more about their past and recognise their shared heritage.

For more information on The Special EU Programmes Body

Progress on the Nomadic

August 2009 - Nomadic opens to the public for two weeks during the Tall Ships event. Over 2,000 paying customers visited the vessel with all of them enjoying the tours and the evening performances of ‘All Aboard Titanic’ by the GCSE Drama students of Dominican College, Fortwilliam;
August 2009 - Nomadic moves back to a newly refurbished Hamilton Dry Dock facility at a cost of £400,000;
July 2009 - Part One of the Conservation Management Plan has been completed. This is required for Heritage Lottery Funding application. Part two of the Plan now underway
August 2008 - Nomadic accepted for the UK’Core Collection’ of the UK National Historic Ships Register. Nomadic is the last surviving White Star Line vessel and is one of only 60 ships included on the’Core Collection’. This should assist with Heritage Lottery funding
July 2008 - Institute of Directors announce Nomadic as their selected nominated charity for 2008/09
June 2008 - new home provided for Nomadic at Hamilton Dock
May 2008 - Nomadic Trust awarded UK Charitable Trust status
April to September 2007 - Nomadic partially opened to the public with 17,000 paying visitors raised the profile of the Nomadic and was self financing

Funds that have been raised / pledged

Ulster Garden Villages - £200,000;
Belfast City Council - £250,000;
Better Belfast - £30,000;
National Historic Ships - £2,000;
Institute of Directors - £8,000;
Belfast Harbour Commissioners / Titanic Quarter - £400,000 for Hamilton Dock restoration