Harland & Wolff, the longstanding shipyard in Ireland that built the Titanic, is in trouble with creditors and may not be able to continue operations.
One of the most iconic shipyards in the world is in financial trouble and may not be able to continue building boats.
The Belfast-based company built the iconic ship in Ireland beginning in 1909. The loss of the Titanic is one of maritime history's worst tragedies and resulted in the loss of 1517 lives after the vessel struck an iceberg while crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Southampton, England to New York City on April 14th, 1912. Titanic was one of three ships built by Harland & Wolff and the British shipping company White Star Line.
The Harland & Wolff yard is a well-known Belfast landmark, not just because of its long history as a prominent shipbuilder and economic giant, but also thanks to two yellow cranes, known as Samson and Goliath, that dominate the city’s skyline.
Now a series of economic missteps in recent years have now put H&W in a precarious position. The company had to temporarily suspend trading of its shares in late June due to delays in filing their audited accounts. The accounts were expected to be published before July 1st but the company was unable to meet the deadline.
In a statement, the shipyard said the complexity of some of their contracts led to extended conversations with auditors about how to record revenue within their building programs.
The suspension of trading also complicates the company's current contract with Spain's Royal Navy and Spanish shipbuilder Navantia. Both are part of a seven year contract to produce support ships for the Spanish Navy.
As part of that £1.6bn contract ($2.06 billion USD), H&W was commissioned to build three Royal Navy support ships while creating up to 1200 jobs in the UK, 900 of which were to be in Belfast.
The Royal Navy contract marked the first ships to be built by H&W since they launched the Anvil Point in 2003.
As for the company's unaudited accounts, they did release those publicly to show operating losses of £24.7 m ($318 million USD) for the year ending December 2023. The company also suffered a loss of £58.5m ($75 million USD) in 2022.
Now the shipyard is facing another battle -- the potential loss of a £200 million ($257 million USD) loan that was expected to help the company stay afloat. Reports indicate that the UK's new Labour government may reject a loan guarantee which had been in place with the previous government.
H&W, which currently has over 1500 employees across four UP shipyards, had been in talks with the UK's Conservative government for a loan guarantee to help reduce the interest payments on their debt.
In May, The Guardian reported that the union representing H&W warned of major job losses if the government treasury turned back on the £200m plan.
In a letter from the union to the government chancellor, the union said “The workforce at Harland & Wolff are maximizing UK manufactured content that supports growth and security of UK capabilities, in areas that need these jobs and apprenticeships – Northern Ireland, Devon, the Outer Hebrides and Fife."
“All of this is being placed in jeopardy by the time it is taking to get a [UK Export Finance] guarantee to allow the business to refinance," according to The Guardian.
If the current Labour government does renege on the deal, it could spell the end for the company. Much of the row appears to center around H&W capability's to build such large ships given the size of their shipyard.
“Awarding this contract in the first place went against the interest of the national shipbuilding strategy,” said Kevan Jones, Labour MP for North Durham, to The Guardian. “Questions need to be asked why – knowing what we know now about Harland & Wolff – they were given the multibillion-pound contract in the first place.”
Until the dust settles in UK politics with the incoming Labour government, it remains to be seen if Harland & Wolff will be able to continue, or if one of shipbuilding's most iconic names will sink.
You can get a great inside look at the Harland & Wolff shipyard and their quest to build the Titanic in the video below:
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