{"id":247171,"date":"2025-07-08T05:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/247171\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T05:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:22:14","slug":"turnover-at-belfast-harbour-rose-to-88-1m-in-2024-as-it-looks-to-unlock-full-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/247171\/","title":{"rendered":"Turnover at Belfast Harbour rose to \u00a388.1m in 2024 as it looks to \u2018unlock full potential\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Performance hailed as port boss urges Stormont to allow it to borrow \u2018to unlock full potential\u2019\n<\/p>\n

The trust port said consolidated operating profit rose to \u00a334.8m, up 0.9% year-on-year.<\/p>\n

There had been investment of \u00a344.8m in projects such as a new logistics warehouse and upgrades to freight and container facilities.<\/p>\n

\"Dr<\/p>\n

Dr Theresa Donaldson, chair of Belfast Harbour Commissioners<\/p>\n

The harbour also announced the reappointment of Dr Theresa Donaldson as the chair of Belfast Harbour Commissioners today.<\/p>\n

But it said that while it had self-funded investments of \u00a3374m over the last decade, it now needed the ability to \u201cresponsibly\u201d borrow more from banks.<\/p>\n

However, that requires the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to change the accounting status of NI trust ports, which also include Londonderry and Warrenpoint, with the Minister for Infrastructure launching a consultation into the issue. <\/p>\n

Dr Donaldson said: \u201cWe have a proud track record of delivering for the city and region, but to unlock our full potential, we, along with our colleagues across NI\u2019s trust ports, require the ability to prudently borrow more.<\/p>\n

“We are encouraged that the Infrastructure Minister is looking into this constraint and we will continue working with colleagues across the trust ports and with officials in the Department for Infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Belfast<\/p>\n

Belfast Harbour chief executive Joe O’Neill<\/p>\n

Chief executive Joe O\u2019Neill also said it had also been another \u201crecord year\u201d for roll-on roll-off freight, delivered by Stena Line. That has risen from 610,000 to 617,000 freight units, while passenger numbers remained steady at 1.7 million.<\/p>\n

There were 145 cruise calls during 2024, making Belfast the second busiest UK port for cruise tourism. <\/p>\n

As a trust port, Belfast Harbour is funded by its profits and does not receive public funding. <\/p>\n

\"Artist's<\/p>\n

Artist’s impression of City Quays 5 in Belfast, which has now won planning permission<\/p>\n

As well as spending \u00a344.8m on completed capital projects, the report said \u00a3119.9m was committed for \u201cstrategically significant\u201d capital and infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s part of a wider \u00a3313m to be invested between 2025-29 including its biggest ever single investment of \u00a390m to develop a new dual-purpose cruise and offshore wind deepwater quay.<\/p>\n

The report said port trade remained resilient with cargo volumes increasing 0.6% to 24.1 million tonnes.<\/p>\n

On the harbour estate, planning permission was granted for 256 homes in City Quays 4 and 69 affordable homes in Sailortown, as well as the mixed-use City Quays 5 building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Performance hailed as port boss urges Stormont to allow it to borrow \u2018to unlock full potential\u2019 The trust…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247172,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[2378,84491,778,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-247171","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-belfast","9":"tag-department-for-infrastructure","10":"tag-margaret-canning","11":"tag-northern-ireland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114815942451538465","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247171\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}