Plans to create a new permanent exhibition space to house thousands of artefacts from Belfast's maritime history in Northern Ireland have been handed a £624,000 boost by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

Lagan Legacy, a charity established in 2002 to preserve the city's maritime heritage, is behind the Homeplace project to establish the new venue, which will be situated aboard a restored Dutch motor barge on the River Lagan at Lanyon Quay.

Artefacts that will be put on display at the exhibition facility include technical drawings for Belfast's iconic Samson and Goliath cranes at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, plans for the SS Canberra vessel and photographs, letters and recordings featuring shipyard workers.

The funding was made available through the HLF's Heritage Grants programme, which provides grants of at least £50,000 to projects that are designed to protect and preserve the local, regional or national heritage throughout the UK.

Paul Mullan, the head of HLF Northern Ireland, said: "For more than a century, the city's most famous shipyard - Harland and Wolff - was synonymous with Belfast and was at the centre of our industrial prosperity and the very fabric of life.

"The museum will act as a focus for not only the current, but the continued development of the city's shipbuilding heritage resources. It will be a fantastic new attraction for the city, providing a unique experience for local visitors and tourists alike."

It is hoped that the new museum will be ready to open by 2010.