New contracts for H&W shipyard

Significant new contracts are due to be announced Belfast?s Harland and Wolff (H&W) shipyard. The news came as the world?s largest car ferry arrived in the yard?s main building dock for essential repairs and maintenance work.

The “health check” on the Irish ferry ?Ulysses? is the first of four being carried out on vessels in the Irish Ferries fleet over the next few weeks by H&W. The 50,938 gt Ulysses, the Irish Ferries flagship, measures over 200 metres in length and can carry up to 1,850 passengers and 1,342 cars at speeds of 22 knots.

David McVeigh, of Harland and Wolff, said “2006 has been a wonderfully busy year for us, with almost 60 dockings for ship repair and conversion work, and we are delighted to kick off 2007 with the Irish Ferries contract.” McVeigh said the diversification strategy at the yard meant that while it was very much alive in the shipbuilding industry, it was also expanding design engineering and civil engineering work. He added: “We look forward to making some significant new contract announcements shortly after the completion of the Irish Ferries work.”