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The town of Bangor lies some 14 miles east of Belfast
on the Co Down side of Belfast Lough. Once a seaside resort, Bangor
is now a dormitory town with a population of around 60,000.
Until 1990 the main commodities handled at the harbour
were imported coal and general cargo exported to the Isle of Man in
weekly services to Ramsey and Peel operated by Mezeron and Glenlight
respectively.
By the late 70’s with the collapse of tourism in
Northern Ireland Bangor’s role as a seaside resort vanished and, in
the absence of any continuing development, the area around the harbour
and seafront became neglected and rundown.
The Council decided that the whole seafront needed
considerable investment to restore it as a worthwhile attraction for
locals and visitors alike. This involved the closure of the harbour
to commercial shipping and a decision to concentrate on the leisure
market – notably yachting.
The first stage in the redevelopment was the demolition
of the derelict North Pier and its replacement by a substantial
concrete structure. The new pier opened in 1983.
The second stage was the opening, in 1989, of a
560-berth marina.
What amounted to a third stage in the transformation of
the seafront was the opening of new offices for the MCA at
Bregenz House adjacent to the
marina. The Belfast Coastguard there is responsible for the coastal
waters from Lough Foyle to Carlingford Lough and the inland waterways
of Lough Neagh and Upper and Lower Lough Erne.
Although coasters no longer call the harbour is still
used commercially by trawlers landing their catches or lying over and
mussel boats mainly involved in dredging in Belfast and Larne Loughs.
The two most frequent visitors are the pelagic trawlers
Havilah (N200) and Stefanie M (N265) – at 49m they are
the longest vessels regularly using the harbour. Other, smaller,
trawlers include the Velvet Chord II (N275), Benaiah IV
(B350), Karima (N96), Sea Harvester (N822) and the
Altje Margariet (PH177). From time to time Scottish boats use the
harbour for shelter during rough weather.
The mussel dredgers Dingenis Jan (N936), Drei
Geobroeders (B927), Gode Vervachting (B931), Maria
(SO964), Rival (WT196) and Gerrit (B115) are regulars while
occasional visitors include the Still Ostrea (B98 ex LR111),
Eendracht (B935), Bonny and Kelly (N98), Luctor
(SO927), Mytilus (B449 ex BS449) and Mare Gratia (B932).
There have
been calls by replica sailing ships such as the
Grand
Turk
and the Golden Hind, the Fitzcaraldo has encouraged
people to “walk the plank”, naval visitors have included the Sandown
class mine counter measures vessels HMS Inverness (M 102), HMS
Bangor (M 109), HMS Shoreham (M 112) and some Archer
class boats operated by the university naval squadrons.
Customs cutters such as the Seeker, Searcher,
Vincent, Valiant and Vigilant make occasional calls and the
marina is the base for two other Government vessels – the fishery
protection launch Ken Vickers and the Redbay Stormforce 7.4
RIB, RV Capitella employed in water quality sampling.
2005 saw
Bangor used as the base for boats supporting two jack-up rigs
operating in Belfast Lough. The multicat Mary M, work boat
Ashraf and the tug
Princeton
were all involved. The Roerdomp carried out an extensive
programme of dredging of the harbour and marina from March to May this
year.
Fred Olsen’s Black Prince is an annual visitor
anchoring in Bangor Bay before transferring her passengers to tenders.
The Hebridean Princess has called, also anchoring in the bay
and transferring her passengers to Zodiacs.
For some the highlight is the annual visit of the
Balmoral cruising Belfast Lough and the Antrim coast or sailing to
Peel via Donaghadee.
Bangor lifeboat station currently operates an Atlantic
21 B-584 Youth of Ulster - on station since 1990. It is due to
be replaced by an Atlantic 85 early in 2006. Donaghadee’s Trent class
Saxon (14-36) calls to re-fuel and the marina is sometimes used
by lifeboats in transit - relief Arun class Murray Lornie
(54-42) called in April 2005 on passage from Rosneath to Poole and
relief Trent class Corrine Whiteley (14-32) spent some weeks
there in 2003 after relieving at Larne. Relief Mersey class Peggy
and Alex Caird (12-001) called in November 2005 for attention to
her radar and Quentin Nelson’s preserved boat, the 1954-built
ex-Watson class Guy and Clare Hunter (formerly on station at St
Mary’s, Fowey, Penlee, Padstow and Cromer) has called in recent times.
Finally there are a number of boats operating short
pleasure trips around the bay or offering sea-angling charters. Brian
Meharg’s Blue Aquarius is the latest of successive “Bangor
boats” to offer short trips out as well as angling charters. The
Betsy III and the Missy Moo are also available for hire.
It is sometimes possible to use a public trip on the Blue Aquarius
to view vessels at anchor off Bangor awaiting passage to Belfast.
Bangor Web Links:
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