Shipyard
Harland & Wolff has completed installation of 11 cranes from County Down supplier Walter Watson Ltd as it prepares to build three Fleet Solid Support ships for the armed forces. The cranes cost £1.5 million and form part of a £98.5 million modernisation and recapitalisation of the Belfast yard under Navantia UK. The final unit, a 20-metre semi-Goliath gantry crane, was commissioned at the end of August.
Harland & Wolff has secured what Navantia UK called its largest investment in a cruise ship revitalisation project at the Belfast yard since acquisition. Margaritaville at Sea’s flagship Beachcomber will be transformed there, with the work expected to generate about £40 million for the Belfast region.
Navantia UK is investing £3.1 million to refurbish Harland & Wolff’s Samson and Goliath cranes in Belfast. The work will include engine overhauls, new catenary cables and structural and electrical repairs, with Goliath already under way before the refit moves to Samson.
Navantia UK has started recruiting 28 skilled workers for its Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, including 21 welders, five platers and two pipefitters. The hires will support three 39,000-tonne Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, with a further 66 apprentices due to start in September.
Chris McDonald MP visited Harland & Wolff in Belfast after the Government published its Defence Investment Plan and confirmed key naval programmes. Navantia UK said the Fleet Solid Support programme at the yard is on time and on budget, with three 39,000-tonne supply ships under construction for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary under the £1.6 billion contract.