Training
Duty Holder Training for Belfast Harbour
Belfast Harbour Commissioners
Training
Belfast Harbour is Northern Ireland’s principal maritime gateway and logistics hub, serving the economy of Northern Ireland and an important logistics gateway for the Republic of Ireland.
Belfast Harbour Commissioners (BHC) is the Duty Holder for Belfast Harbour; their Marine Safety Plan describes the principal actions that ensure compliance with the Ports & Marine Facilities Safety Code (PMSC), the UK standard for port and marine safety. BHC is also a Competent Harbour Authority within the Belfast Harbour Pilotage Area, and operates a Vessel Traffic Service for the coordination of shipping.
Following the 2025 update to the PMSC, BHC and the Belfast Harbour Executive Team asked ABPmer to run Duty Holder Training covering the new Code, with a focus on the Commissioner’s duties and responsibilities as a Statutory Harbour. The training was delivered in two training sessions, to assist Commissioners and Executive Officers in understanding how the role of the Duty Holder had changed under the new Code.
Our specialists covered the purpose of the PMSC and the role of the Duty Holder in ensuring compliance, as well as the duties, powers and responsibilities of the Duty Holder under the Code, including consideration of legal obligations.
The training also included an overview of the role of regulators, past examples of harbour authority prosecution and the most recent PMSC ‘Health Check’ compliance audits undertaken by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
Our training courses equip port and harbour authorities with essential knowledge to support safe, PMSC-compliant maritime operations. Find out more about our maritime training.
