A new £100,000 Challenge Fund competition has opened for Belfast’s digital and creative companies, aimed at animating the city’s Maritime Mile.
Developed by Belfast City Council’s City Innovation Office, in partnership with the Maritime Belfast Trust, the fund is part of the Belfast HUB-IN (Hub of Innovation) project.

HUB-IN is all about exploring how digital innovation can help to sustain, enhance, and preserve the rich and unique heritage along Belfast’s Maritime Mile which connects key attractions, sculptures and viewing points on both sides of the River Lagan.

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See Monster – the decommissioned North Sea offshore platform that is set to become one of the UK’s largest public art installations – is due to arrive in Weston by sea this week.

It comes after weeks of rumours surrounding delays over the opening of the attraction, which was due to open for the summer season.

The transformation of the platform is a world-first that aims to inspire global conversations about the repurposing of large industrial structures and design-led solutions to sustainable futures.

And the 450-tonne platform will be transported on a flatbed barge as large as a football pitch to its new home at the Tropicana, an iconic seafront landmark, and lifted by crane over the seawall onto preconstructed legs. 

The entire construction will be 35m tall – 15m taller than the Angel of the North and just 11m shy of Nelson’s Column.

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Coastal and Maritime Tourism is one of the many different types of tourism that benefits the UK. Last week National Maritime had the privilege to look at this exciting venture hitting the Thames.

If you are looking to do something this Easter check out the Horrible Histories – Terrible Thames Tour a venture from award-winning theatre producers Birmingham Stage Company and National Maritime partners  Woods’​ Silver Fleet, a family-run Company of Thames Watermen since 1866.

Together they are bringing together their extensive experience of performance and river sightseeing tours to create an experience like no other.

Remember Singalongs are compulsory onboard!

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Plans to build a new theme park – dubbed the UK’s answer to Disneyland – have been withdrawn.

The London Resort Company Holdings Ltd, the company behind the scheme, confirmed the news in a statement in which it said the Freeport status handed to the site in Tilbury was one of the reasons behind the move. The theme park was due to be built by the Thames on the Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent and open in 2025.

Despite the setback, The London Resort insists it will return with fresh plans in the future. Estimates suggested it would have cost £3.5bn to build the resort.

In a statement, its Chief Executive said: “In the best interests of the London Resort, we are withdrawing the current application; as a result of the classification of Tilbury as a Freeport which has meant revisions are required in moving the ferry terminal from Tilbury to Grays. We are working closely and collaborating with Thurrock Council on that matter.

“This issue, combined with the decision by Natural England to designate a brownfield contaminated site as a SSSI has impacted the project. We in turn have acquired significant land holdings as part of our mitigation strategy combined with our commitment to spend £150m on environmental improvements on the peninsula. These changes are considered material and as such require withdrawal and resubmission.

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Crown Estate Scotland has launched a special fund to help promote the sustainable development of Scotland’s marine tourism sector.