(CNN) – Harland & Wolff, the 163-year-old company that built the Titanic, has declared bankruptcy after failing to secure financing to continue operating.
The British shipbuilder said on Monday that it would probably initiate administrative proceedings in the coming days. In the United Kingdom, the administration allows companies to restructure when they cannot pay their debts, rather than being liquidated immediately.
In a statementHarland & Wolff said its request for a £200 million ($264 million) “facility” from UK Export Finance, a government department, had been rejected, leaving it “in a difficult financial position.”
The company said its staff had already been informed of job cuts in “non-core operations”.
The group’s “core operations” – including its Belfast shipyard, which built the Titanic and is now helping to build three warships for the British government – will not be affected by the administrative procedures and will continue to operate as normal, it added.
The company said it was exploring the sale of these operations while it continued to seek new financing.
“The group is facing a very difficult time, due to historic losses and the inability to secure long-term financing,” said Russell Downs, interim chief executive. “Regrettably, extremely difficult decisions have had to be made to preserve the future of our four shipyards,” he added, referring to the company’s shipyards.
This is not the first time Harland & Wolff has been preparing for bankruptcy. In 2019, the British government appointed an administrator to restructure the firm, but months later it received a breath of fresh air when British energy company InfraStrata agreed to buy it.
Last year, Harland & Wolff, which completed the Titanic in 1912, delivered its first completed ship from its historic Belfast site in two decades.
The company has focused primarily on ship repair and greener energy work, including, following its sale to InfraStrata, the Islandmagee gas storage project in Northern Ireland.
“Leaving these vital shipyards – and the crucial (warship) contract with all its promise for UK shipbuilding – at the mercy of the market is not good enough,” he added.
“We are clear that, following a thorough review of the company’s financial position, the market is now best placed to meet these challenges and providing government funding would have posed a significant risk of losing taxpayers’ money,” the spokesman added in a statement.
“We continue to work intensively with all parties to find an outcome for Harland & Wolff that secures shipbuilding and manufacturing in Belfast, Scotland and the rest of the UK and protects jobs.”
