A Spanish shipbuilding firm is “racing to finalise a takeover” of Harland & Wolff, Sky News has reported.
Navantia, a company dedicated to civil and military naval construction, is purportedly close to confirming a deal with the owner of Belfast shipyard, in a deal that could rescue up to 1,000 jobs.
The firm already had a £1.6bn contract with H&W, in which the latter is to to build three fleet solid support (FSS) ships that transport crucial supplies to aircraft carriers for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the civilian branch of the Royal Navy.
Now, Sky News has learnt that Navantia is understood to have been providing financing liquidity to H&W on a week-by-week basis since the company filed for administration, with this week’s payment said to have been due last Friday.
Harland & Wolff announced in September that its parent company would enter administration, putting the initial contract with Navantia in doubt.
It is the second time in five years the famous shipyard that built the Titanic has announced it was going into administration.
The administration only applies to the holding company, and not to the group’s subsidiaries.
The British and Spanish governments have also been engaged in discussions about the prospective new deal, according to Whitehall sources.
It is likely to incorporate jobs guarantees if the UK Government agrees to recut the FSS deal, they added.
If completed, a definitive deal could be announced as soon as the latter part of this week.