The Ministry of Defence has confirmed ongoing discussions about the future of the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, with a focus on the shipyard’s role in delivering the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ships.
According to a recent parliamentary exchange, Defence Minister Luke Pollard highlighted the importance of the shipyard’s future in response to a query from Conservative MP Mark Francois.
Francois had asked about the discussions between the Defence Ministry and the Chancellor of the Exchequer regarding the shipyard and its involvement in the contract for three Fleet Solid Support Ships. In response, Pollard stated:
“Ministry of Defence Ministers and officials have regular meetings with counterparts in other Government Departments, including with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on a range of matters, including the future of Harland & Wolff’s shipyards.”
The future of the Harland & Wolff shipyard has been under scrutiny, particularly regarding its contribution to the FSS ship programme, a priority for the Ministry of Defence. Pollard added that there has been significant engagement with Navantia UK, the Prime Contractor responsible for the delivery of these ships.
He stated:
“There is extensive engagement with Navantia UK as the Prime Contractor to understand what steps the company is taking to ensure delivery of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) contract and management of its supply chain.”
Harland & Wolff, the Belfast shipyard famous for constructing the Titanic, entered administration in 2024 due to financial struggles and failure to secure a £200 million loan from UK Export Finance.
This marked a significant blow to the yard, which has been attempting to recover after years of instability. Despite its ongoing work, including contracts for the Royal Navy, there are growing concerns over potential job losses and the future of the shipyard as it seeks new ownership.
This isn’t the first time Harland & Wolff has faced such difficulties. In 2019, it also went into administration, later being acquired by InfraStrata, a company focused on energy projects. Despite efforts to diversify and revitalise the yard, including participation in constructing Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Navy, financial troubles have persisted. The shipyard has struggled to meet its commitments, raising concerns about the completion of key naval contracts.
Current discussions are focused on safeguarding jobs and ensuring the yard can fulfil its obligations.
Fleet Solid Support
According to DE&S, Fleet Solid Support (FSS) will provide support ships designed to deliver crucial munitions, supplies and provisions to the Royal Navy while at sea.
“They will provide logistical and operational support, including counter-piracy and counter-terrorism missions and will collaborate with allies on operations.Each ship will have a core RFA crew of 101, with accommodation provided for an additional 80 personnel operating helicopters, boats, or performing other roles when required.
The ships are designed with an emphasis on minimising carbon emissions, equipped with energy-efficient technologies to decrease power consumption and are adaptable to reduce their carbon footprint by using low-carbon, non-fossil fuels, and future sustainable energy sources. They are also designed to be adaptable from the outset to achieve a Carbon Zero status by the end of their 30-year operational lifespan.
The production of the first FSS is expected to begin in 2025 across three shipyards and all three ships will enter service after final equipment fits and military trials, by 2032.”
Maybe the yard should be nationalised as a strategic asset?
Yep but not nationalised by Spain 😡
Last time any British government nationalised a ship yard it did not turn out well. I would take Navantia taking over the yard any day of the week.
However as we are not prepared to fund a larger fleet it’s probably best we accept the two surface yards we have and get large RFA made in South Korea to British designs.
We just can’t sustain 3 surface yards.
What plonker at the MOD thought giving a complex ship building program to a failing yard and a Spanish company was the best deal on offer. Geez
I think it was the only deal on offer in the U.K.
That and had we guarenteed their loan it probably wouldn’t have been an issue.
There is a reason no one would guarantee their loan and they went bankrupt. H@W parent company was a debt filled scam.
And if the government had underwritten the loan they wouldn’t have gone bankrupt Jim.
I must have been misinformed. I thought it was a start up looking for capital to get started.
I think his name was Shapps 😀
It does seem strange that this new government can find £22billion for untried & risky carbon capture, yet cannot find £200 million for Harland & Wolff.
What planet are our Politicians on ? NAVANTIA is 100% Spanish Government owned, so the owners not only have 100% zero interest in the future of U.K. Shipbuilding, but are one of our prime rivals in the export market. They are doing this purely because their export order book is pretty bare and the majority of the value work for our FSS will be built in Spain. The irony of this is just beyond a joke, Navantia is a Nationalised conglomerate of several Spanish firms the largest and most modern of these was SNCS. In the early 20th Century Spanish… Read more »
Sounds like a sensible plan.
Have you seen how much Australia has to pay for ships? Unfortunately the British government has a terrible legacy of nationalisation and won’t commit to enough ships to fund three yards. If we can accept the Tides being built in Korea I don’t see any difference in the FSSS. It’s not like the UK is short on jobs or needs the extra input that a handful of large RFA ships would generate. Subjecting poor communities like Belfast to a boom and bust industry for nothing other than nostalgia purposes is wrong, the UK might at a stretch be able to… Read more »
Wow, I can’t believe our only FSS practically on its last legs we’re only going to begin building our first extremely overdue replacement next year! Plus even H&W are on the verge of folding.
All this on the verge of global conflict.
Probably a daft suggestion, but we cannot seem to get these supply ships built after years of messing about, yet there are RFAs tied up, i.e the Wave class, which may never go to sea again. Possibly convert them to supply ships? Might not be ideal, but at least we might get something a bit quicker than a new build and I’m sure more complicated conversions have happened before.
Just as, if not more expensive than building the new ships, still needs a yard (which is the sticking point) and are 20 years old so would need replacing in a few years.
Good points, no doubt they will just rust in peace…..
It’s all very well building new ships,but are we going to be able to crew them.the rfa used to be a good long term career ,with good wages etc.the younger generations attitude has changed.i work with about six apprentices,and I was to mention the rfa,they would think I meant the raf.the don’t know the first thing about it.
With regards to support ships would an option be to buy one from the US? Something similar to Fort Victoria and have it assigned to the carriers for the next decade until this mess gets sorted. Are the US and UK auxiliary ships that different? I know there’s the issue with pay but that can be sorted in a month if the will is there.