Navantia UK has opened its new Resurgent Hall at Harland & Wolff in Belfast, following a major programme of investment to prepare the shipyard for the next generation of naval shipbuilding.
The facility was opened on Monday (2 November) by the UK’s Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry, Luke Pollard and is the centrepiece of almost £100 million being invested in Belfast since the Spanish state-owned shipbuilder acquired Harland & Wolff in January 2025.
The investment forms part of a wider £157 million programme to modernise Navantia UK’s four sites across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Devon, and strengthen the country’s shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing capability.
Resurgent Hall will support the construction of three new Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and provide Belfast with the facilities needed to compete for future naval and commercial work.
The extended hall provides an additional 5,000 square metres of fabrication space. It includes robotic plasma-cutting equipment, refurbished cranes and a new mechanised panel line, allowing ship sections to be produced more efficiently and accurately.
Donato Martínez, CEO of Navantia UK said: “Shipbuilding is returning to Belfast. We are turning Harland & Wolff into one of the most advanced shipyards in Europe. Our new fabrication hall will be equipped to build state-of-the-art ships to serve and defend the UK for generations to come.
“We’ve named it Resurgent Hall for a reason. Jobs, investment and activity are resurgent in shipbuilding. Belfast is at the heart of that revival, and the Fleet Solid Support programme is the first of many projects we aim to deliver here for the Ministry of Defence.”
“Shipbuilding is returning to Belfast. We are turning Harland & Wolff into one of the most advanced shipyards in Europe.”
Minister Pollard said: “Few sights in the UK are more evocative of our industrial heritage than the Samson and Goliath cranes, and it’s fitting that this new hall sits on the shoulders of these iconic giants.
“Belfast continues with its proud shipbuilding history by building the modern shipbuilding capability the country needs today, with this new fabrication hall at the heart of it.
“Navantia’s £157 million investment across its UK yards shows what sustained investment in shipbuilding delivers: good jobs, growing skills, and the support ships our navy needs.”
Construction is already under way in the Fleet Solid Support programme. Steel cutting began at Navantia UK’s Appledore shipyard in December 2025, followed by the laying of the keel for the first vessel, RFA Resurgent, in September 2026.
Appledore is constructing the bow sections of all three ships. Belfast will undertake major fabrication work, final assembly, systems integration and testing. The three vessels are scheduled to enter service in the early 2030s.
Work at the Belfast shipyard extends beyond Resurgent Hall. Navantia UK is also carrying out a major refurbishment of the iconic Samson and Goliath cranes, preparing them to support a new era of naval and commercial shipbuilding.
Since acquiring the former Harland & Wolff facilities in Belfast, Appledore, Methil and Arnish in January 2025, Navantia UK has begun a substantial programme of investment across all four sites.
The company has increased its investment commitment from £115 million to £157 million. The programme promises to modernise facilities, introducing advanced manufacturing technology and developing the workforce needed for shipbuilding and complex fabrication.
