Titanic wreck explorer Robert Ballard opens new Belfast centre

21 Mar 2014

Dr Robert Ballard delivers a presentation on the importance of ocean exploration at TED 2008. Image via Wikimedia Commons

Dr Robert Ballard, the ocean explorer who discovered the wreck of legendary passenger liner Titanic in 1985, opened the new Ocean Exploration Centre in Belfast yesterday.

The Ocean Exploration Centre offers visitors insights into 21st-century ocean exploration, allowing them to touch some of the high-tech equipment used in expeditions. At certain times of the year, visitors can also watch expeditions in real-time from Ballard’s exploration vessel, E/V Nautilus.

The centre is housed in a former gallery inside the Titanic building on Queen’s Island.

Ballard, a former US Navy officer, said the new centre, “adds to the legacy of Titanic“, News Letter reported him as having said.

“Indeed, it is a product of Titanic‘s legacy; that great ship continues to educate us to this day and will continue to inspire our learning.”

Tina Costanza was a journalist and sub-editor at Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com