On a visit to Harland & Wolff Group's main shipyard in Belfast, the UK Shadow Defence Procurement Minister, Maria Eagle MP saw first-hand Northern Ireland’s vital contribution to the UK’s defence sector.
The Shadow Minister said that under a Labour government, Northern Ireland would benefit from Labour’s pledge to direct UK defence investment first to UK jobs and UK businesses.
The Shadow Minister last week viewed the breadth of work currently being undertaken at the busy yard including the fabrication of barges, the refit of cruise ship Margaritaville at Sea Islander as Afloat reported, which was tracked over the weekend having gone on sea-trials into the Irish Sea and returned to the facility today.
In addition, the Minister saw work underway with the mid-life upgrade of Harland & Wolff’s most recent arrival, the floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessel, the SeaRose FPSO, as also covered.
Maria Eagle, the MP for Garston and Halewood, England, was also able to see the extensive civil works being delivered to upgrade the yard ahead of delivering the Naval FSS (Fleet Solid Support ships) sub-contract. The contract has unlocked £77m investment in new technology and infrastructure to deliver a state-of-the art Belfast shipyard and provide 1,200 new jobs across the group.
During a tour of the site, she received a briefing on Harland & Wolff’s apprenticeship programme, which is currently offering over 140 apprentices applied training across the Belfast, Arnish, Methil (both in Scotland) and the Appledore site in England.
After talking with a group of our first-year apprentices, Ms Eagle said: “Meeting young professionals hoping to build a career in shipbuilding was the highlight of my visit.”
