Shipbuilding looks to be returning to Harland and Wolff’s Belfast yard after the UK Government announced its preferred bidder for a new £1.6 billion contract.
Team Resolute, which includes Harland and Wolff, has been selected as the lead bidder for the fleet solid support contract to build new support ships for the Royal Navy.
Subject to Treasury approval early next year, it will see final assembly for the three vessels - each the length of two Premier League football pitches (216 metres) - take place in Belfast.
Construction is due to start in 2025, with all three ships expected to be operational by 2032.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it expects the contract to create 1,200 jobs in shipyards and around 800 more in the supply chain.
The Team Resolute consortium also includes Bath-based design firm BMT and Navantia UK.
It comes almost 20 years after Harland and Wolff last built a ship in Belfast and three years after the company was rescued by Infrastrata.
The company, which has since adopted the Harland and Wolff name, has gone on to acquire additional shipyards in Devon and Scotland.
It’s thought to be more than 40 years since the last navy vessel was built in Belfast.
Reacting to the MoD announcement on Wednesday, the group described the announcement as “a major milestone for Harland & Wolff”, adding that it “demonstrates the substantial progress made in establishing the business as a significant player within UK shipbuilding and wider fabrication projects”.
Harland and Wolff said it expects to complete negotiations on the contract by the first quarter of 2023.
The company said some of the work will also take place at its Appledore shipyard in Devon, with components to be manufactured at two of its sites in Scotland.
Some build work will also take place at Navantia’s shipyard in Cadiz in Spain, prompting concern from the GMB union, who backed the workers who occupied the Belfast shipyard during 2019 in a bid to save it from closure.
Responding to comments from ministers that a significant amount of the work will be carried out in UK shipyards, GMB national officer Matt Roberts said: “The problem is that they don't define ‘significant’ by volume or value and they don't tell us what guarantees or enforceability there is. Due diligence must be rigorous."
News of the contract comes just over a week after the UK Government scrapped the £250 million ‘national flagship’ shipbuilding contract.
Harland and Wolff was one of two finalists in the running to land the deal to create a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia.
Announcing the preferred status for Team Resolute at Harland and Wolff’s Appledore shipyard in Devon on Wednesday morning, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said “It's a real feather in the cap for both Appledore and Belfast - shipbuilding is coming back to Belfast.
"I was determined with this contract, when we put it out to tender, the bidders had to commit to investing in the yards and the people, it's not just about their bottom line.”
Mr Wallace added: "It's ultimately about how do we make Appledore and Belfast match fit for other contracts when Navy contracts are no longer there.
"I was delighted that the skill base we found here on Appledore can do that, it's a great yard with a great history and I'll be delighted to see some huge parts of the ships being built here."
In a statement on behalf of the Team Resolute consortium, Harland and Wolff group chief executive, John Wood, said the deal could generate around £1.4bn “in national social and economic value”.
“We will create high quality UK jobs, apprenticeships and four facilities across the UK which will have shipbuilding capabilities fit for the 21st century.”
