Displaying items by tag: H&W Appledore

14th July 2022

Harland & Wolff's Appledore Shipyard Secures ‘Watershed’ Defence Contract

Harland & Wolff's Appledore Shipyard Secures ‘Watershed’ Defence ContractHarland & Wolff's Appledore shipyard has been awarded a £55m contract to regenerate a former Royal Navy mine-hunting vessel, with the "watershed" agreement set to support 100 jobs at the company's south-west England facility.

On behalf of the Lithuanian Government, the Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) awarded the contract that will see HMS Quorn (see former fleetmate) renovated and restored at the Appledore Shipyard, bolstering NATO maritime capability in Europe.

Supporting ambitions to bolster British shipbuilding, the work will see an influx of contractors for the project across the local and national supply chain.

This includes 14 major subcontract packages in engineering, equipment and integration, along with other refurbishment services.

John Wood, group chief executive of Harland & Wolff, said: "This is a watershed moment. This contract has provided the breakthrough that we needed to activate the fifth and final element of our business strategy – the key market of defence.

More on the contract InsiderMedia has a report.

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H&W Appledore

12th February 2021

Harland & Wolff Announces Launch of Apprenticeship Scheme in Belfast & Appledore

Belfast Harbour is where the iconic shipyard of Harland & Wolff, with 160 years of maritime and offshore engineering pedigree, is launching a new apprenticeship scheme. In addition the opportunities will also apply to the H&W Appledore shipyard in Devon which AFLOAT adds built OPV's for the Irish Naval Service including the newest offshore patrol vessel LE Goerge Bernard Shaw.

Harland & Wolff has announced that it will soon be launching a new apprenticeship scheme at the 160 year old historic shipyard that last year notably signed a letter of intent to build ships again.

The scheme is set to officially launch later this year across both the flagship Belfast and the newly acquired Appledore sites, as Afloat reported. The Devon shipyard had up to 2018 built OPV's for the Naval Service.

Apprenticeships offered will be across three distinct functions, Trade, (welders, pipefitters, electricians, riggers, fabricators, etc) Technical, (engineers, naval architecture) and Business Support (sales, administration).

Highlights of the unique training programme will include practical on-the-job training, one to one mentoring alongside its experienced workforce, shipyard training facilities and the opportunity to earn while you learn.

As part of the scheme, apprentices will have the chance to experience working across Harland & Wolff’s five key sectors; cruise & ferries, defence, oil & gas, commercial and renewables, as well as across the full lifecycle of services it offers; technical services, building and fabrication, repair and maintenance, in service support, conversion, and decommissioning.

Prospective apprentices will be able to register their interest on the Harland & Wolff website here.

Harland & Wolff would also like to hear from any relevant apprentices who have been unable to complete their apprenticeship through the recent loss of employment.

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7th September 2020

H&W Appledore to Host 'Career' Open Days for Prospective Workers At Renamed UK Shipyard

Appledore shipyard in Cornwall, UK is hosting career open days this week, Thursday and Friday. Above Afloat adds is the covered building hall of the shipyard on the banks of the River Torridge where the last ship floated-out was the Irish Naval Service L.E. George Bernard Shaw in March 2018. Late last month, Afloat also adds the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid a visit to the newly acquired Harland & Wolff (Appledore) shipyard. At the re-opening of the Cornish shipyard the PM commented that this will be a fantastic opportunity for the entire UK. We must get on and “build, build, build”.

Initial steps to getting local workers back through the gates of Appledore Shipyard in the UK began last week with two careers open days.

New operator Harland & Wolff is hosting to events at the Cornish site for prospective employees on Thursday, September 10 and Friday, September 11.

As NorthDevonGazette reports, the company says they are being held in readiness for ‘highly anticipated new contracts’ and says they will provide the opportunity to meet and speak with existing Harland & Wolff employees who can share their experiences.

The free events will run from 9am on Thursday and 8am on Friday, until 6pm on both days, with one hour time slots that can be booked via the Harland & Wolff website – details below.

The union Unite said it regarded the careers days as the first step in getting shipbuilding restarted as soon as possible at the renamed Harland and Wolff Appledore – but warned that will also need active involvement from the government.

Appledore shipyard was closed in March 2019 by previous owner Babcock after 164 years, with the loss of about 200 jobs.

For more click here in addition for prospective workers you can register here for the Career Open Days.

Afloat adds the shipyard has been renamed H&W Appledore near Bideford from where the last ship built at the south-west England shipyard was ordered by the Irish Government Department of Defence. This led to fourth OPV90 /P60 class L.E. George Bernard Shaw (P54) floated out on the River Torridge.

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25th August 2020

Historic UK Shipyard Appledore Acquired by Owners of Harland & Wolff

Appledore Shipyard on the River Torridge in north Devon has been acquired by owners of the Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff

In the UK the Appledore Shipyard in south-west England which built its last ship for the Irish Naval Service is set to reopen, it has been announced.

The historic shipyard as previously reported, has been acquired by Infrastrata, the owners of Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff.

The deal will see the shipyard, which was closed by Babcock in March 2019, renamed H&W Appledore.

Infrastrata acquired the Belfast yard in December 2019, and believe the Appledore facility will be the ‘go-to’ yard in the region for small vessel requirements.

It said while each yard will be a standalone business in its own right, Appledore would be ideally placed to handle any extra work from Belfast.

The acquisition only comes with one employee – the site manager – but the company believes the workforce can be ‘very quickly ramped up’ upon the execution of contracts, and said discussions with the Government and private vessels were already under way.

For further reading NorthDevonGazette has more.

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Irish Sea Ferry Routes

Irrespective of the type of vessel deployed on Irish Sea routes (between 2-9 hours), it is the ferry companies that keep the wheels of industry moving as freight vehicles literally (roll-on and roll-off) ships coupled with motoring tourists and the humble 'foot' passenger transported 363 days a year.

As such the exclusive freight-only operators provide important trading routes between Ireland and the UK, where the freight haulage customer is 'king' to generating year-round revenue to the ferry operator. However, custom built tonnage entering service in recent years has exceeded the level of capacity of the Irish Sea in certain quarters of the freight market.

A prime example of the necessity for trade in which we consumers often expect daily, though arguably question how it reached our shores, is the delivery of just in time perishable products to fill our supermarket shelves.

A visual manifestation of this is the arrival every morning and evening into our main ports, where a combination of ferries, ro-pax vessels and fast-craft all descend at the same time. In essence this a marine version to our road-based rush hour traffic going in and out along the commuter belts.

Across the Celtic Sea, the ferry scene coverage is also about those overnight direct ferry routes from Ireland connecting the north-western French ports in Brittany and Normandy.

Due to the seasonality of these routes to Europe, the ferry scene may be in the majority running between February to November, however by no means does this lessen operator competition.

Noting there have been plans over the years to run a direct Irish –Iberian ferry service, which would open up existing and develop new freight markets. Should a direct service open, it would bring new opportunities also for holidaymakers, where Spain is the most visited country in the EU visited by Irish holidaymakers ... heading for the sun!