‘Titanic’ sank long ago. Now the UK company that built it is sinking

RMS Titanic is seen being fitted out at Harland & Wolff's Belfast shipyard where work went on in 1911 and 1912.

Blow to UK shipbuilding hopes as Harland & Wolff declares itself insolvent. Owner of Belfast shipyard that built Titanic to enter administration, ‘The Guardian’ informs.

Harland & Wolff, the owner of the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, is to enter into administration this week after failing to find new funding, in a blow to UK government hopes of shipbuilding in the city.

The company said that it was insolvent and was expecting to appoint administrators from Teneo imminently.

It is the latest in a long line of crises for the Belfast yards, which have declined from their heyday when they employed as many as 20,000 people. The city’s skyline is still dominated by the twin yellow Samson and Goliath cranes, which were installed in the 1970s. The yard built the Titanic liner, which infamously sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.

The administration decision raises serious questions for the UK government.

It comes after months of fraught negotiations as Harland & Wolff scrambled to find funding to upgrade the shipyards, where it had hoped to carry out the work on the fleet solid support (FSS) warships that transport crucial supplies such as ammunition and food to aircraft carriers.

All shareholders in Harland & Wolff are likely to lose their money, the company said.

Susan Fitzgerald, Irish regional secretary at Unite, a union representing shipworkers, said the government should be ready to intervene to preserve skills and employment if a suitable buyer cannot be found.

Matt Roberts, a national officer at the GMB union, said: “Workers, their families and whole communities now face their lives being thrown into chaos due to chronic failures in industrial strategy and corporate mismanagement.

“The government must now act to ensure no private company is allowed to cherrypick what parts are retained, in terms of which yards or contracts they wish save.”

Russell Downs, an accountant who was appointed as interim boss in July, said: “The group faces a very challenging time given the overhang of significant historic losses and its failure to secure long-term financing.”

"The group faces a very challenging time", Harland and Wolff's interim executive chair Russell Downs said.

Harland & Wolff employs more than 1,500 people across its operations, including the main yard in Belfast.

Harland and Wolff has struggled for years due to strong competition, particularly from Asia.

Its shipyards were saved from closure in 2019 when it was bought out of administration for £6m by energy infrastructure firm InfraStrata.

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