A TENDER used to ferry passengers out to the Titanic is set to return to British waters after years spent rotting away in a French port.

The SS Nomadic is the last remaining vessel in the White Star fleet, whose ocean liners used to steam in and out of Southampton docks.

She was used to ferry first and second class passengers between the ship and shore but later retired to Le Havre port suffering years of neglect.

Recently the Nomadic was bought by the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland for 250,001 euros at an auction in Paris.

And in July the Nomadic is expected to be towed back across the Channel and then up to Belfast where she was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard.

The future of the Nomadic has caught the interest of thousands of Titanic enthusiasts across the world, who have been battling to save the tug tender.

It has emerged that the Nomadic will be restored to her former glory and used as a restaurant in the "Titanic Quarter", which is being planned for the city.

Thierry Dufournaud, pictured left, of the French Titanic Association, said: "The Nomadic will be used as a restaurant/museum and will cruise along the coast. Myself and the Titanic Association are supporting the Belfast project and believe it has now been saved from the scrapyard."

Titanic steamed out of Southampton in April 1912 on her ill-fated maiden voyage across the Atlantic which cost the lives of 1,503 people.

The Nomadic was later used to ferry troops during both world wars before becoming a restaurant in Paris and retired to Le Havre.

First published Tuesday 18 April 2006