A visit to Harland & Wolff Group’s Belfast shipyard took place recently by the UK Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Hilary Benn MP.

The visit according to Harland & Wolff came on the same day that the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reevess MP, announced a Labour Party commitment to build all government vessels at shipyards across the UK should the party form a future administration.

Mr Benn toured the shipyard and saw the extensive civil works underway as part of a £77m upgrade of yard infrastructure and technology to deliver three Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships.

Harland & Wolff is part of Team Resolute, in a consortium including BMT and Navantia UK, part of the Spanish state-owned shipbuilding group which won the £1.6 billion contract. 

The three FSS / replenishment vessels have been ordered by the UK Ministry of Defence for the RFA which will serve the operational requirements of the British Royal Navy.

The shipyard on Queens Island has been upgraded to adopt state-of-the-art shipbuilding techniques which will underpin Harland & Wolff’s capacity to deliver key naval programmes of FSS and beyond.

Over the course of the FSS contract, at its peak, Harland & Wolff is expected to employ 1,200 personnel in Belfast and at their Appledore shipyard, in north Devon, England with an expected additional 800 plus jobs across the UK supply chain.

In addition to cutting edge automation and robotic machinery capabilities, the improvements include a 5,000m2 extension to the existing fabrication halls. This will facilitate up to 16m2 of automated fabrication panels.