Titanic shipbuilder Harland & Wolff's troubled waters put UK government in a quandary

The towering Samson and Goliath cranes at Harland & Wolff shipyard, a hallmark of the Belfast skyline. AFP

Somehow, it seemed fitting that just as the inquest into the deaths of the people aboard the Titan submarine was getting under way, Harland & Wolff was busy extending a begging bowl.

The submariners were on a voyage to explore the wreck of the Titanic, the ill-fated liner built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast. Go there, and it is impossible to miss Harland & Wolff or H&W. Its two giant yellow cranes, known as ‘Samson’ and ‘Goliath’ dominate the skyline. They’re testament to a firm, known the world over, that produced 1,700 ships in its proud history. Once the biggest employer in Belfast with a 30,000 strong workforce, H&W was a leading player in an industry in which Britain once excelled.

Not any more. Just as British shipbuilding has slumped into decline, so is H&W a shadow of its former self.

While the giant yards of China, South Korea, Italy and Japan have powered on, H&W has seemingly staggered from one crisis to another. Compared to its domestic rivals, it is at least still standing, as one by one British shipbuilders went to the wall. Nevertheless, H&W is only just about surviving, such that the feeling is this is the final throw – fail and the game really is up.

The yard’s recent history is one of being private, nationalised, private again in 1989, each switch marked by the passing of another financial low point and coloured by struggle. That’s how it’s been: with H&W in the news again, but for all the wrong reasons.

With one exception. That was in 2019, when an Aim-listed company called InfraStrata bought H&W out of administration and amid fanfare, announced a return of the shipyard to its glory days, reawakening British shipbuilding and taking on related side projects.

This was delivered with passionate zeal. Belfast and government ministers and officials, relieved they would no longer have to come to H&W’s rescue, had cause for celebration. John Wood, the chief executive of InfraStrata, set out exciting plans to revitalise H&W, becoming a builder once again of ships and of energy infrastructure projects.

For the first time in decades, there was talk of adding to the employees, who had fallen to a few hundred in number. The shipyard, which had not completed a vessel since 2003, would be producing them again; the old place would be humming once more. Big ships and energy projects, being worked on side by side, it all seemed too good to be true. Sadly, so it proved.

The ambitious InfraStrata went on a shopping spree, buying the defeated Appledore shipyard in 2020. Renamed H&W Appledore, the Devon business would focus on building and repairing smaller vessels. A year later, InfraStrata added two more yards, specialising in prefabricating oil-and-gas drilling structures, and the company was renamed Harland & Wolff Holdings.

Things genuinely appeared to be looking up when in 2023, the main Belfast site built its first new ship in two decades, a barge for a waste management company. It was hardly a giant cruise liner or a battleship but nor was it to be sniffed at – it was a symbolic first and H&W had an order for 22 more barges.

Further reason for optimism came with the news that H&W was to become the main subcontractor in a £1.6 billion ($2.14 billion) deal to build three new supply ships for the Royal Navy.

H&W was part of Team Resolute, the winning consortium. No matter that the lead in the group was Navantia of Spain. Yes, the ships would primarily be built in its yards in Cadiz, but H&W was guaranteed about half the contract from building sections of the hulls in Belfast and Appledore. The stitching together of the various parts, from the Navantia and H&W yards, would also take place in Belfast.

Unfortunately, H&W did not have sufficient other orders and in the absence of cash flow from the British naval contract which has yet to get going, the group has gone into administration. Insolvency experts Teneo have been instructed to sell the various components.

This is creating an early test for the new Labour government and its Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and his Defence colleague John Healey. Historically, some nations have subsidised their shipbuilding capability. This has not been the traditional British approach – hence falling behind and reduced to watching as rival countries forge ahead.

There has, though, always been a convention that warships must be built in Britain. It’s a moot point as to whether a supply vessel is classed as a ‘warship’. Ben Wallace, the former Tory defence secretary, said it was. That would mean they would have to be built here, with Reynolds and Healey bailing out H&W.

It has become apparent, however, that the whole Team Resolute concept is difficult to execute and some defence experts question if it would be easier and cheaper for Navantia to take over the whole lot and construct the ships in their entirety in Spain. Support for this approach has been growing within Whitehall and Spain.

By now, H&W was hoping to have received a £200 million UK state loan that would enable it to operate until the money came in from the supply ships and other contracts. Negotiations have dragged on, possibly they were deliberately slowed by officials. Two months ago, the incoming Labour government turned down the H&W application.

This would suggest neither Reynolds nor Healey are bothered if the supply ship order heads to Spain. If they were serious about providing support for Belfast and Appledore, they would have agreed to the loan.

What’s happened since, though, is that H&W has called in the administrator. Now the ministers must face the issue of denying an icon of working-class Belfast, of industrial Britain, life support. That’s a tall order for Labour politicians. Equally, they would have to justify the lifeline by being seen to follow a Tory predecessor, something they would be reluctant to do.

There is an alternative, that Babcock, which runs the naval yards at Devonport and Rosyth, and failed in an attempt to join Team Resolute, comes in for the H&W portion of the naval order and saves the jobs at Belfast and Devon.

There is no guarantee of that occurring – it might well be wishful thinking. Even if Babcock did step forward, Navantia would still have to be persuaded, which might cause more awkwardness for the UK government.

Reynolds and Healey can be forgiven for thinking back three months and how much easier life was in opposition.