London  - A centre to commemorate the Titanic in the city where the famous luxury liner was built almost 100 years ago was given the go-ahead by Belfast city council in Northern Ireland Tuesday.

The council pledged 10 million pounds (15 million dollars) towards the 100 million-pound signature project on the derelict shipyard of Harland and Wolff where the Titanic was built.

The five-storey centre is scheduled to become a tourist attraction in time for the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking, in April, 2012.

It is hoped that the centre will bring up to 400,000 visitors to Belfast each year, and compete with major European sights such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

One of the main attractions inside will be a 65-seater "four dimensional" flying theatre that will take passengers on a virtual dive down to the liner's final resting place at the bottom of the Atlantic.

The rest of the centre will be split into themed galleries, each designed to take visitors through a stage in the Titanic story.

An integral part of the project will be a memorial to the 1,500 people who died when the Titanic went down on her maiden voyage to New York on April 14, 1912. (dpa)