It is a vital gateway for raw materials, exports and consumer goods, and is also Northern Ireland's leading logistics and distribution hub.

Belfast is only one of two ports on the island of Ireland to handle a full range of cargoes, from freight vehicles to containers, dry, break and liquid bulk, as well as passenger services and cruise calls.

Trade continued to expand throughout the century, to the extent that the original quay was enlarged, to accommodate the increasing number of ships.

As a result, a new body was constituted: The Corporation for Preserving and Improving the Port and Harbour of Belfast, commonly called 'the Ballast Board'.

Although already well established by this stage, the port remained disadvantaged by the natural restrictions of shallow water, bends in the channel approach and inadequate quays.

These problems, together with an increasing volume of trade, led to the Parliament of the United Kingdom passing the Belfast Port and Harbour Act 1837 (7 Will.

From that time the commissioners have developed and improved the port, reclaiming land to accommodate new quays, new trades and changes in shipping and cargo-handling technology.

It served as the training ship for some 130 reservists as the headquarters for the Ulster Division Royal Naval Reserve until it was decommissioned in 2011.

On 6 July 2007 the station's three 240 ft (73 m) chimneys were demolished by controlled explosion and the remainder of the site was cleared in the following months.

The site is currently used for coal storage and sorting "[8] Belfast Harbour is one of the UK's many "trust ports" and is an independent statutory body.

Its board – known as Belfast Harbour Commissioners – is appointed by Northern Ireland's Department for Regional Development on the basis of open public advertisement.

The current commissioners as of February 2020 include David Dobbin CBE as chairman and Joe O’Neill as CEO.

[9] The port is patrolled by the Belfast Harbour Police, which is one of the oldest constabularies in the British Isles, dating back over 160 years.

In recent times the service has faced new challenges as the relocation of marine facilities to the seaward end of the port have created opportunities to develop new residential, commercial and public spaces.

By 2019, Stena Line's Belfast-Loch Ryan route, Belfast-Birkenhead and Belfast-Heysham service together carried 542,000 freight vehicles were handled; a record number for nine consecutive years.

This terminal was operated by Coastal Container Line Limited; a subsidiary of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company; later Peel Ports Belfast.

Major civil engineering works are underway to accommodate the new equipment[13] The first of the two new Liebherr ship-to-shore gantry cranes arrived in Belfast at the end of April 2020.

There is Metro bus Service 96 connecting with Yorkgate onto the Londonderry Line and Belfast Suburban Rail network of Northern Ireland Railways.

The 2 cruise berths that are used are the Pollock dock, named after Northern Irish politician Hugh MacDowell Pollock, for smaller ships and the Stormont Wharf (deep water berth) for larger ships, The extended Stormont Wharf was opened on 30 June 2009 by the Grand Princess.