The shipyard firm of Harland & Wolff Group which has its largest facility in Belfast, has landed another significant fit-out, reports The Irish News, with a contract that is worth up to £70 million.

The Group, which also has yard's in Arnish and Methil, Scotland and Appledore in England, has been given its Belfast facility a "notice to proceed" for the mid-life upgrade of a large vessel.

This will also involve the dry-docking of the vessel at their yard at Queen's Island located on the south side of Belfast Harbour.

The client whose identity has yet to be revealed, is understood to have chosen Harland & Wolff based on the yard's proven ability to execute such projects with complex upgrades.

A determining reason for the client is that H&W's Belfast yard is one of the largest heavy engineering facilities in Europe. Another factor is that Belfast Lough permits large vessels with deep water access to the largest dry-docks in the UK in which there are two.

As Afloat highlights, the Main Dock is (556m x 93m) with a draft of 8.41m depth of water and Belfast Dock (335m x 50.29m) with a corresponding draft of 12.3m.

In addition the marine engineering facility has ample quayside and vast fabrication halls.

The contract however is subject to its formal execution, which when implemented is expected to see the vessel arrive in Belfast this year.

As for the duration of dry-docking the large vessel, this is scheduled for five months and is to span into early 2024.

More from the newspaper which also has a recap of a large naval and smaller-scale tug newbuilding contracts awarded to the London-listed shipyard group which also has an office located on Lower Thames Street.