Belfast’s renowned Harland & Wolff shipyard has begun demolition work as part of a major overhaul aimed at making it one of the UK’s most technologically advanced shipbuilding facilities.
The £77 million investment comes after the shipyard secured a manufacturing subcontract with Navantia for the £1.6 billion Fleet Solid Support (FSS) naval supply ship programme.
The funds will be used to upgrade both the Belfast and Appledore shipyards, with work commencing in anticipation of the contract’s delivery in 2023. Among the planned improvements are an extension to the fabrication halls, enabling a more efficient material and sub-structure production flow, and investment in advanced robotic and autonomous equipment for tasks such as material movement, marking, plate cutting, panel lines, and welding.
Additionally, larger paint buildings will be constructed to facilitate more efficient block painting. The subcontract is expected to significantly enhance Harland & Wolff’s capabilities, positioning it as a key player in the international shipbuilding industry.
The FSS programme, set to last seven years, will provide long-term employment and opportunities until 2031, say the firm in a news release.
Harland & Wolff will be responsible for fabricating various blocks, including some mega blocks, as well as procuring equipment to be installed on each vessel in Belfast.
The Appledore shipyard, which has experience fabricating bow sections for the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, will produce all three bow sections for the FSS programme before transporting them to Belfast. The vessels will then be assembled, consolidated, integrated, and commissioned at the Belfast facility, signaling a return to shipbuilding in the city after a two-decade hiatus.
Full-scale fabrication is scheduled to begin in 2025, with the delivery of the vessels planned to meet the Ministry of Defence’s objective of bringing three ships into service by 2032.
Great news just a long wait sadly ,overtime maybe 🙏
Good news. But still trying to make up for the disastrous Con-LibDem slashing of our defences. governments
Belfast really needs as win, I hope H&W can follow this with multiple RFA builds for amphibious ships after.
Specifically, presumably the MRSS class and replacements for (fill in the blank)?
Fingers really crossed there will be enough work to keep the shipyards running just now in business for years to come.
There should be seeing as so much trade comes by sea
I suspect MRSS and LPHs could be built here
Wish them all the best with the plans.
Wonderful to see the rebirth of H&W, a British icon.
Great to see naval shipbuilding being rejuvenated at H&W & Appledore. The sooner we see the FSS in service, the better,
Great news for all sorts of reasons, not least H&W and the RFA.
Spend 77 million to get one of UK’s most technologically advanced shipbuilding facilities.
That’s not good.
If you want a modern competitive shipyard you need to invest. The fact that £77 million is being invested is tremendous news. How can you possibly look at this news as anything other than good?
Good stuff, they’re late and needed.
The idiots who disposed of Fort George yet kept Austin and Rosalie ( Grange ) in 2010 need….well…
yep, stupidest decision yet
So £77m of investment for only 3 ships, which quite frankly should be 4. And seeing as we’re making this investment it makes it all the more of a reason to say that the 4 Tides should have been built by H&W as well and not South Korea.
Do you actually think that after building the 3 FSS that the yard will shut? The investment will make the yard more modern, more efficient and will enable them hopefully to compete for other builds from abroad. How can you look at this news in a bad light?
Where are H&W going to get labour to build these ships ?
Where did they find the workforce when they very first opened?
BAE Systems and Babcock are struggling for UK labour and are heavily reliant on foreign workers, H&W will be exactly the same.
I worked on the drill ships that were built in 1999 in Belfast and the yard was full of sub contractors from Scotland and England.
Nobody is going to travel over to Belfast with the amount of work at home just now.
The majority of labour on the Belfast ships will definitely be foreign.