The modernisation of Belfast’s Harland & Wolff shipyard has passed a significant milestone, with the first Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) of advanced robotic welding equipment for the UK’s Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme completed in Finland.
Navantia UK and the Ministry of Defence delegation, including Alan Haley, Harland & Wolff Recapitalisation Manager for Navantia UK, and Alex du Pré, FSS Project Leader at Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), oversaw the successful testing of Pemamek’s PEMA Vision Robotic Welding Portals.
These systems will form the backbone of a new automated panel line at Belfast, designed to deliver faster and more precise shipbuilding.
The panel line is described as central to the government-backed modernisation effort, which is tied directly to delivery of the three FSS ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Once installed, it is expected to transform the yard’s productivity and allow it to compete for future programmes.
Navantia UK is investing £115 million across its four UK yards, including £90 million in Belfast, after acquiring the business in January 2025. The investment secures over 1,000 jobs across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England.
Alan Haley said the panel line was “at the cutting edge of global shipbuilding technology” and would give Belfast “the capability to deliver FSS and to re-establish itself as one of the most advanced and competitive shipbuilding facilities in the UK.”
The MoD echoed that message. “We are pleased to have reached this pivotal milestone in the Fleet Solid Support programme,” said Alex du Pré. “Our team’s collaboration with Navantia UK has helped to ensure these advanced robotic welding systems meet the exacting standards required for building Royal Navy support ships that are fit for the future.”
Finnish manufacturer Pemamek is producing the fully mechanised panel line, which integrates robotics, automated material handling and precision welding to produce defect-free panels at scale. Jukka Rantala, Vice President of Key Accounts at Pemamek, said the project would equip Belfast to “achieve ambitious production targets today and in the future.”
The new panel line will be installed in a 5,000-square-metre expanded fabrication hall, scheduled for completion in early 2026. Navantia UK has also recruited 55 new apprentices for the FSS programme, bringing the total apprentice cohort to 170, with a target of 500 more by 2030.
The company said the investment demonstrates its commitment to combining Harland & Wolff’s heritage with modern digital shipbuilding under the so-called Shipyard 5.0 model, and to securing long-term skills and employment in Northern Ireland’s shipbuilding sector.
It is interesting how well the state owned model can work as long as you seprate it from government.. essentially you form a state owned company that treats its owning government as nothing more than the majority shareholder and it seems to work well.
This is a much more measured article than that which appeared in the FT last week, which implied that much of ship 1 would be built in Spain, and various commentators stating that all three would likely be built in Cadiz. Only in the meat of the article was it obvious that Navantia are putting a lot into H&W. True many of the main blocks for ship 1 will be built in Cadiz, because the yard is still being made ready, but all the assembly will be in Belfast, and the work share has been adjusted so that the work in UK will actually be greater than that in the original contract. And Navantia are also increasing their investment into the H&W yards to over £100m, with a longer term view of bidding and winning MRSS. All this is good news.
Agreed, it does sound like overall workshare is largely the same, despite the scary headlines. But as these are now classed as warships (I think?) they are supposed to be built primarily in the UK, so I wonder if they had to do some contractual gymnastics to ensure ship 1 complied with this requirement.
There is always a lingering concern that H&W Belfast isn’t ready in line with current expectations, and more of the first two ships end up being built in Cadiz as a fallback.
The machines are building themselves…
But are they Protestant machines, or Catholic machines?