A record 24.6 million tonnes of trade was handled in Belfast Harbour for the first time in its 400-year history last year, latest financial accounts show.

Trade increased by 900,000 tonnes year on year, which The Irish Times reports has helped drive the harbour’s turnover up by 11 per cent to £68.8 million (€76.7 million) in 2018.

The harbour, which handles about 70 per cent of the North’s seaborne trade, also grew its operating profit by 6 per cent last year to £36 million, while capital expenditure increased by 24 per cent to £52 million.

The harbour’s strong financial performance last year was propelled by a significant increase in Stena Line’s freight vehicle traffic to and from Britain.

This jumped by 3 per cent year on year to a record 532,000 vehicles, and the harbour’s latest annual report shows that for the second year in a row more than 1.5 million passengers also passed through Belfast port – including about 200,000 cruise ship passengers.

Last year’s weather, which included a cold spring and hot summer, also helped boost the port’s bulk cargo sector, which grew to 9.9 million tonnes, primarily because of increased imports of grain and animal feeds, a sector which grew to a record 2.3 million tonnes.

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