Ireland - Belfast Harbour, Visit of the Tall Ships, 2009

Belfast Harbour
during the visit of the Tall Ships, August 2009

The Port of Belfast is Northern Ireland's principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and increasingly that of the Republic of Ireland.  About 60% of Northern Ireland's seaborne trade and 20% of the entire island's is handled by the Port which receives over 6000 vessels each year.  Belfast was the finishing port of the Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge, with ships completing over 7,000 nautical miles.

Photo: Esler Crawford

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The Tall Ships Challenge is an annual event organized by the American Sail Training Association alternating in a three year cycle between the Great Lakes, the Pacific and the Atlantic coasts of North America.

The event draws hundreds of thousands of people to witness beautiful tall ships from the age of sail and provides a unique opportunity for the participants to interact with the crews of different vessels in friendly rivalry as they race from port to port.

The series began in 2001 on the Great Lakes and saw vessels from six countries and visited seven US and Canadian ports. It has since continued to grow.  In 2009 the Tall ships which left from Halifax in Canada raced to Belfast, Ireland.