The £7 million restoration of a tender ship which ferried first-class passengers on board the Titanic is to begin early next year after the project today secured another £500,000 cash injection.

The grant from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board (NITB) has pushed the total raised to refit the SS Nomadic beyond the £4 million mark, meaning work can commence in the spring.

Plans to reopen the vessel to the public ahead of the centenary of its launch - and of the Titanic's - in Belfast in 1911 had been thrown into doubt earlier this year after auditors expressed concern over a funding shortfall.

They said the charitable trust overseeing the project was around £3.6 million shy of its £5 million target for this year.

But since then Nomadic Trust has landed a £2.27 million grant from the European Union and now an additional £500,000 from the tourist board.

While the trust still needs just under a million to reach its own £5 million goal for 2008, sufficient funds are in place for work to get under way.

A series of bids to other funding organisations are due to be lodged in the coming months.

Trust chair Denis Rooney said he was delighted NITB had recognised the project's potential.

"This is another very generous injection to Nomadic's restoration and I'd like to thank NITB for its support," he said.

"Nomadic is a unique project - she represents the country's strong maritime and industrial heritage and her links to Titanic further strengthen her appeal.

"Her restoration will undoubtedly improve the visitor experience and enhance Northern Ireland as a tourism destination."

Both the Nomadic and the Titanic were launched from Belfast's Harland and Wolff shipyards in 1911.

Less than a year after the White Star Line-owned vessels left the city, the Nomadic was employed to transport first- and second-class passengers from the French port of Cherbourg to the Titanic ahead of its ill-fated maiden Atlantic voyage.

On that trip it sank after striking an iceberg with the loss of more than 1,500 lives.

It is intended that the Nomadic, which was saved from a wrecker's yard in France three years ago by the Stormont executive, will be open to the public in Belfast's docklands ahead of the much-hyped 100th anniversary of its launch.

The ship's restoration is one of a series of Titanic-themed projects under way in Belfast ahead of 2011. A £100 million tourist centre dedicated to the story of the liner is also being built on the site of the old shipyards.

Andy Best, NITB's funding and monitoring manager, said the ship, which is currently housed in the Hamilton Dock, had the potential to become a great visitor attraction.

"Through the restoration work, we aim to improve the quality of the visitor experience by bringing the rich history of the Nomadic and Northern Ireland's wider maritime heritage to life and sharing with all who come to see her the many stories associated with the ship," he said. "This sensitive restoration will make the Nomadic a highly entertaining tourist attraction which will draw visitors from home and further afield, inevitably making a positive impact on the local economy."

Social development minister Margaret Ritchie, whose department has also backed the initiative, said: "Given the enormous good will that exists, there is a real good chance that Nomadic will have a glorious future fitting of a historic vessel of this nature, bringing heritage and tourism benefits to Northern Ireland and enjoyment to everyone who visits her."

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.