(From L) Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Harland & Wolff CEO John Wood, and Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris visit the Harland & Wolff shipyard factory, on December 16, 2022 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Britain’s Prime Minister announced last week a £1.6 billion contract for three new naval vessels. A consortium led by the shipyard Harland and Wolff secured the preferred bidder status and will create 1,200 jobs across three companies, 900 of which will be in Belfast. (Photo by Charles McQuillan / POOL / AFP)
London, United Kingdom — Iconic shipbuilder Harland and Wolff, famed for constructing the doomed Titanic, has struck a deal for its shipyards to be bought by Spanish peer Navantia, the UK government announced Thursday.
The proposed deal maintains Navantia UK’s contract to build three Royal Navy ships, used to deliver supplies to British aircraft carriers.
It will also secure 1,000 shipbuilding jobs that were left hanging in the balance after the Belfast-based company in September called upon outside administrators to help save it from collapse.
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Navantia UK will take over all four of Harland and Wolff’s shipyards across the country, subject to regulatory approval.
“This deal is a major vote of confidence in the UK from Navantia,” said Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
“This deal will guarantee our sovereign shipbuilding capability to bolster our Navy and ensure the industry can continue to deliver economic growth and boost coastal communities right across the UK,” he added.
Harland and Wolff had in September agreed to offload non-core assets to preserve its shipyards.
As well as building the Titanic, Harland and Wolff built its two sister ships Olympic and Britannic, and also supplied almost 150 warships during World War II.
It built the SS Canberra liner in the late 1950s and the Myrina in the 1960s, the first supertanker built in the UK, and was recently part of a consortium that won a major navy aircraft carrier and logistic vessels contract.
Its yards are also active ship repairers.
Harland and Wolff employs 1,500 staff, a far cry from the more than 30,000 in the early twentieth century. It was founded in 1861.