MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Harland & Wolff shipbuilders will initiate administration proceedings

The Titanic under construction at a Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast. The ship hit an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage in April 1912.

Loss making Belfast shipbuilder Harland & Wolff, the firm that among other great vessels built the Titanic, has declared itself insolvent after failing to secure funding to continue trading, and will be initiating administration proceedings.

Administration provides a way for companies in the United Kingdom to restructure when they cannot pay their debts, as opposed to being wound up, or liquidated, immediately.

The 163-year old company said its request for a £200 million “facility” from UK Export Finance, a government department, had been rejected, leaving it “in a difficult financial position.”

The firm said its staff had already been informed of job cuts in “non-core operations” and in the holding company. “Core operations”, include the Belfast shipyard that is now helping construct three warships for the Royal Navy, will not be affected by the administration proceedings and will continue to trade as usual, it added.

“The group faces a very challenging time, given the overhang of significant historic losses and its failure to secure long-term financing,” said interim executive director Russell Downs. “Unfortunately, extremely difficult decisions have had to be taken to preserve the future of our four yards,” he added, referring to the company’s shipyards.

This is not the first time that Harland & Wolff has prepared for bankruptcy. In 2019, the British government named an administrator to restructure the firm, but months later it was thrown a lifeline when UK energy company InfraStrata agreed to buy it. In 2023 Harland & Wolff delivered its first finished vessel from its historic Belfast site in two decades.

The firm has largely focused on repairing ships and work on greener energy, which includes, following its sale to InfraStrata, the the Islandmagee Gas Storage Project in Northern Ireland.

Activity on the Islandmagee project will also continue as normal, Harland & Wolff said.

In a statement on Monday, Matt Roberts, a national officer at UK labor union GMB, said the UK government must act “to ensure no private company is allowed to cherry-pick” which of Harland & Wolff’s yards or contracts to retain.

“Leaving these vital yards — and the crucial (warships) contract with all its promises for UK shipbuilding — to the mercy of the market is not good enough,” he added.

Harland & Wolff was one of candidates shortlisted to build the new port terminal in the Falkland Islands.