BELFAST shipyard owner Harland & Wolff Group has made its first foray into the US, albeit on a modest scale.
The London-quoted company, which is focused on strategic infrastructure projects and physical asset life-cycle management, opened a satellite office in Miami earlier this year.
And on the back of that, it has now been awarded a first-ever work contract in the US, worth around $1.5 million.
The deal will see H&W support TampaShip (part of the Edison Chouest Group, based in Tampa, Florida) in the completion of the construction of a floating dock for the Bollinger shipyard facility in the Gulf of Mexico.
Fabrication works have already commenced and are expected to be completed within the next three months, though it is not yet clear yet if any of that workload will come to Belfast.
Harland & Wolff Group Holdings has been active in building its pipeline of opportunities in the USA, and it says further announcements will be made as the company progresses to contract in due course.
The company's chief executive John Wood said: "I am delighted to have signed our first contract in the USA within less than six months of establishing our business in Florida.
"The North American opportunity is substantial across all our five markets and our new team is working hard to convert these opportunities into firm contracts, not only for the US business itself, but also for cross-border transactions between US clients and our facilities in the UK."
Earlier this week Harland & Wolff was awarded a £8.5m contract to build 10 more barges for waste management and recycling company Cory Group, which was in addition to two existing contracts awarded last year to build 23 barges for the same client. The total order value with Cory is more than £26 million.
