A POIGNANT service has been held in Belfast to mark the 70th anniversary of the Princess Victoria ferry disaster, which claimed the lives of more than 130 people.
The event at Belfast Cathedral on Sunday remembered those impacted by the tragedy on January 31 1953 when the car ferry, which had been making the short journey between Stranraer and Larne, floundered off the Copeland Islands.
Its stern doors were smashed open by huge waves and as water flooded in, the ship rolled onto its side, sinking within sight of the Co Down coast.
At the time it was regarded as the deadliest maritime disaster in Irish and UK waters since World War II, with many Belfast residents among the dead as well as crew members whose homes were in port towns of Larne and Stranraer.
The dead included the Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Maynard Sinclair, and North Down MP, Sir Walter Smiles.
The Donaghadee lifeboat, Sir Samuel Kelly, rescued 33 of the 44 survivors from the wreck and brought in many bodies on the following day.
Annual commemorations are held in Larne and Donaghadee and there are memorials in Larne, Stranraer and Donaghadee.
The service at Belfast Cathedral to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the disaster was organised by Rev Mark Reid, Belfast and NI Chaplain to the Mission to Seafarers, with involvement from the Flying Angel Centre, port authorities and Harbour Commissioners.
The service included a unique musical elegy created by composer Ivan Black in tribute to the Princess Victoria, incorporating accordions, percussion, SOS messages and the melody of 'Eternal Father Strong To Save'.
Dean Forde said this year's anniversary "may be the last occasion when significant numbers of those who were present, and even those who remember 31st of January 1953, will gather to recall their personal experiences of that day".
"Those who were in their 20s in 1953 are now in their 90s," he said.
"This 70th anniversary service is an important moment.
"It allows the memories of the last of those who were directly involved with that unforgettable day to pass on to others the call to remember, for the loss of the Princess Victoria remains the occasion of the greatest loss of life at sea in British waters since the end of the Second World War."
