Parent company of Harland & Wolff has said it is ready to bid for an estimated £30m 10-year deal to dry-dock, repair and maintain two giant UK Royal Navy 'Queen Elizabeth' class aircraft carriers.

InfraStrata shut down large parts of its Belfast dockyard for four months last year to carry out maintenance and upgrades to ensure the shipyard was in a strong position to bid for the lucrative contract.

The yard will face opposition from one other facility, Rosyth on the east coast of Scotland, where the two 'QE' carriers were built.

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As Afloat previously reported the pair of QE aircraft carriers, had involved sections of the vessels to be built throughout various yards, among them Appledore Shipyard.

The north Devon facility which built a quartet of OPV90 'P60' class for the Irish Naval Service, was last year acquired by Infrastrata.