Harland and Wolff, the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, has been saved from closure after a London-based energy company stepped in with a £6m rescue deal.
The historic shipyard, which also built the HMS Belfast cruiser now permanently moored on the Thames as a museum, went into administration in August after its Norwegian parent company collapsed.
But InfraStrata, whose main project is building the Islandmagee underground gas storage plant off the coast of Country Antrim, said it planned to retain the 79 workers still employed at the yard and could increase the workforce to 400.
The Unite union praised the company’s workers for fighting to keep it alive, including a nine-week sit-in protest that was designed to raise awareness about its plight.
Unite’s assistant general secretary for manufacturing, Steve Turner, said: “I always knew that this incredible workforce would fight for and win the future that this community wholeheartedly deserves. They have stood strong and resolute while others were too ready to throw in the towel.
“Now, we have work to do. We have a shipyard to get back up and running to its full potential.”
InfraStrata’s chief executive, John Wood, said buying Harland and Wolff would cut the cost of work on Islandmagee by up to 15%.
This is because owning the shipyard will allow the company to build steel pipework and modules in Belfast and bring them in by barge, rather than buying parts from abroad and building them on site.
“It makes more sense to do it locally and keeps our pledge to the local community to keep as much work in Northern Ireland as we possibly could,” he said.
“Particularly with Brexit, this gives us a lot more comfort in the supply chain to develop the project.”
The yard will also contribute to the company’s plans for a floating gas storage facility.
The company plans to increase the size of the workforce by several hundred over the next five years, it said in a statement to the Aim junior stock market.
“Harland and Wolff is a landmark asset and its reputation as one of the finest multipurpose fabrication facilities in Europe is testament to its highly skilled team in Belfast,” said Wood.
The InfraStrata boss said he had worked as an engineering officer on board the Canberra, a ship built by Harland and Wolff.
“I know how well built the ship was, which is testament to the quality of work here in Belfast,” he said.
Wood added that the company hopes to rehire some of the staff who took voluntary redundancy when Harland and Wolff went into administration, as well as staff who lost their jobs in the collapse of nearby Wrightbus.
While the yard will initially make pipework and steel modules for the Islandmagee gas storage plant, which involves compressing gas for storage 1,500m below the sea floor in salt beds, Wood said it could also return to shipbuilding.
