Nomadic refit date 'challenging'

Restoration work on the Nomadic tender ship used to ferry passengers to the Titanic requires another £5.5m, a spending watchdog has said.

A NI Audit Office report described the target date for the completion of work on the Nomadic as "challenging".

It had been hoped the work would be finished in time for the centenary celebrations of the Titanic.

The ship, launched in 1911, sank after hitting an iceberg on her maiden voyage the following year.

The Nomadic, like the Titanic, was built by Belfast shipbuilders Harland and Wolff.

The Department of Social Development bought the Nomadic three years ago and brought it back to Belfast as a potential tourist attraction.

So far the department has spent £900,000 on the project.

The Nomadic Charitable Trust was set up by the Department in December 2006 to oversee the full restoration in time for the centenary celebrations.

The trust set fundraising targets of £1m to be met by October 2008 and £5m by October 2009.

However, the Audit Office report said that "raising the expected levels of funds has been a challenge, with £1.37m raised at January 2009".

Denis Rooney, Chairman of the Nomadic Charitable Trust, said that the ship was in fairly good condition but that it was a "complex project".

He said that "various funding applications" had been lodged and they were "very hopeful of securing additional funding".

"We do believe the Nomadic is certainly a very, very important project and we are hoping and keeping our fingers crossed that we will reach somewhere close to that (£5m) target," he said.

He said they had almost completed fitting out Hamilton Dock where the dry dock restoration would take place and that their final conservation management plan was nearly finished.

"Everything is trying to get her ready for the time when we can move her to her location where we can carry out the dry dock work on the Nomadic," he said.

"So the major restoration is something for the future, but hopefully the near future."