Belfast-based Harland & Wolff Group Holdings PLC (AIM:HARL), the AIM-quoted shipbuilding and infrastructure company, has released further details following yesterday's announcement of Team Resolute’s appointment as preferred bidder on the £1.6bn Fleet Solid Support (FSS) contract with the Ministry of Defence.
Team Resolute (comprising Harland & Wolff, BMT and Navantia UK) will deliver three crucial support ships to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), where such vessels will provide munitions, stores and provisions to the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates deployed at sea.
This contract will create 1,200 UK shipyard jobs, 800 indirect jobs, and generate hundreds of graduate and apprentice opportunities in shipbuilding.
The consortium has pledged approximately £77mln of capital investment into Harland & Wolff crucial to develop the company's infrastructure in order to facilitate works to be carried out under the contract, in addition to enabling the company's shipyards to be well placed for future export and domestic build opportunities.
Planning applications for the Belfast shipyard upgrades will be issued in the next few months with full-scale production due to commence in 2025
John Wood, chief executive of Harland and Wolff, commented: "This is a truly defining moment for Harland & Wolff and a major boost both for our assets and for the shipbuilding industry in the UK.
“The FFS programme will revitalise shipbuilding across our four UK sites and will deliver significant levelling up- from Northern Ireland to North Devon.
“We are delighted that this contract will be the catalyst for substantial investment in the Belfast facility in particular, ensuring that it has a vibrant future supporting not only domestic and international shipbuilding, but also the offshore and commercial fabrication markets.”