Love Me Tender

The Nomadic lying in dry dock in Belfast waiting for restoration to begin.
Photo Source: Belfast Telegraph

According to an article in BBC News, police were called in when the Nomadic Preservation Society removed two ornate doors from the historic tender. A spokesperson for the Nomadic Preservation Society said it had purchased the doors in Paris and claimed they possessed proof of ownership. The society now wants an apology from the Nomadic Trust, which is the government-appointed body which called the police and eventually described the event as a misunderstanding.

There is also a dispute between the Nomadic Preservation Society and the Nomadic Trust over a lifeboat that once belonged to the Nomadic, with the Nomadic Preservation Society claiming it bought the lifeboat, and the Nomadic Trust claiming it had been gifted to the Trust.

The two entities are also arguing over the multimillion pound project to restore the Nomadic. Members of the Nomadic Preservation Society are reluctant to hand over the funds they have raised to the Nomadic Trust because it is unclear what the Trust intends to do with the funds. The doors are now in storage and it is unclear when they will be reunited with the tender.

According to an article in the Belefast Telegraph, an expert in restoration projects has offered to step in and act as mediator to help resolve issues between the Nomadic Preservation Society and the Nomadic Trust.

According to another article in the Belefast Telegraph, the restoration of the Nomadic, the tender that ferried first and second-class passengers on board the Titanic from Cherbourg, will begin in the spring of 2010. There had been concerns of a funding shortfall, and it was beginning to look doubtful that the tender would be reopened to the public ahead of the 100th anniversary of her launch. Thanks to a grant from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, there are now sufficient funds in place for restoration of the Nomadic to begin. (Other funders who have contributed to the project include Belfast City Council, Belfast Harbour, Titanic Quarter Ltd, Ulster Garden Villages, and the Better Belfast project.) Both the Titanic and the Nomadic were launched from Harland and Wolff, located in Belfast, in 1911.

Check the following link for some nice pictures of the Nomadic when she was docked at Le Havre, France, and after coming home to Belfast, Ireland. Notice the photo in which the White Star Line company flag is flying proudly from her stern.

Department for Social Development