The CEO of Harland and Wolff said a new deal to build support ships for the Royal Navy will provide great opportunity for Belfast.
The Ministry of Defence announced on Tuesday it has selected UK-led Team Resolute, comprising BMT, Harland and Wolff and Navantia UK, as the preferred bidder to provide three crucial support ships to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
This deal is set to bring 1,200 jobs to the UK, as well as hundreds of graduate and apprentice opportunities. Of these jobs, it's expected around 900 will be based in Belfast, securing the future of shipbuilding in the city.
Read more: Harland and Wolff creating 1,200 new jobs with Naval contract
John Wood, CEO of Harland and Wolff, told Belfast Live this deal has brought shipbuilding back to Belfast.
He added: "It's fantastic news. It's historic news for the shipbuilding industry, there hasn't been a ship built in Belfast for over 20 years.
"Back when we acquired the business on December 5, 2019, in the days before covid, it seemed like a dream to bring shipbuilding back home but that's what we've done. We expect the contract to be awarded in January 2023 and the final ship will be delivered in 2032, so its 10 years of work.
"When we acquired the business, I told the guys here we would build ships again. There were 60 of them outside the gates here through rain, hail, sleet and snow.
"This is for those guys who had the passion to get people like us to believe there was a future in the shipyard, it's those guys who should be really proud. It's about bringing the next generation through, and the next generation after that. The whole team across the business have worked really hard."
The entire final assembly for all three ships will be completed at Harland and Wolff’s shipyard in Belfast, with the three 216m long vessels – each the length of two Premier League football pitches – built to Bath-based BMT’s entirely British design.
Of the 1,200 new jobs across those working on the deal, 900 will be based in Belfast. On top of that, there will also be apprenticeship schemes and graduate schemes.
"I just think it's a great news story in a time when inflation's reaching record high levels, and there's a bit of doom and gloom about, it's nice to be able to bring a bit of cheer to the place," John added.
Those working at the site have said they're ecstatic at the news, adding that it's important the shipbuilding industry here is future-proofed for generations to come.
Joe Passmore, Senior Unite Representative at Harland and Wolff, said: "We're delighted because we now have a future we can depend on, a long-term future, doing the things we're good at which is building ships. It's going to create thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly, it's fantastic news for Belfast.
"The young people we can attract here through our apprenticeship programmes, it's so exciting, and it must be exciting for them as we can show them we have a long future ahead and they're part of it. Belfast will have an engineering history again."
GMB Union Representative, Barry Reid, said: "In 2019, we stood here for nine weeks and told everybody we'd be back to being a world-class ship builder. Nobody believed us.
"Harland and Wolff is iconic. 1861 we started, and there's another 180 years to go. It's not a job, Harland and Wolff is a life. The award of this contract now puts us back into being a major shipbuilder.
"It's great there's going to be more generations coming through. I'm actually the fourth generation of my family here, number five is sitting in the house now.
"My son who's 13, there's a chance now he'll have a job and have a future. So let's keep it going. Once you get into this place, it never leaves you, people go and take other jobs but they always come back."
Video by Belfast Live videographer Harry Bateman.
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