Group CEO, John Wood met with Baroness Vere, Maritime Minister to discuss skills and decarbonisation in maritime, including encouraging girls into maritime and building a cruise centre of excellence in Belfast
Harland & Wolff has joined forces with Macduff Ship Designers, Kongsberg Maritime and Echandia, to create a UK consortium with a common vision to develop and build a zero emissions harbour and coastal tug
Transporting large fabricated structures, components, or raw materials by road in the UK is difficult It adds significant pressure on the road network, as well as increasing the carbon footprint dramatically
Creating environmentallyfriendly tugs and a class of ultra-efficient large barges to service the UK’s Marine Coastal Highway would not only ease pressure on the nation’s roads and reduce emissions, but also help with the Levelling Up and Net Zero ambitions Having the ability to efficiently move large loads on the marine coastal highway would create greater opportunities for shipbuilding as well as fabrication of structures for offshore wind developments
across the entire country, helping spread work beyond the industry’s existing focus on the central belt of Scotland and supporting the UK’s National Shipbuilding Strategy
Two tugs are planned in the initial order, and each will be 25 5m long, have a breadth of 12m, and a draught of 4 85m along with an impressive bollard pull for its size at 50 tonnes The vessels are expected to have Azimuth stern drives and a series of modular battery banks Two barges are initially planned, one measuring 90m by 30m, and the second 50m by 15m
Harland & Wolff will act as project lead and builders, Macduff as designers, Kongsberg for propulsion and vessel control systems, Echandia as battery and electrical control systems specialists This consortium has been created to bring the very best technologies and skills required to deliver
The consortium will utilise innovative design combined with proven battery and propulsion technologies with the aim to deliver a zeroemissions vessel that will utilise electric propulsion from stored battery power for day-to-day operations, backed up by generators driven by biofuel for exceptional operations or when shore charging support is unavailable
Although initially intended to move loads between Harland & Wolff's yards, barges which are not full could transport freight for other clients, further easing traffic congestion on the road network
RFA Argus was recently welcomed back to your Belfast yard The ship was last in our yard in 1985, when she was converted to an aviation training ship with extended accommodation, a flight deck, aircraft lifts and naval radar communications suites As always, we are delighted to welcome the Royal Navy home to Belfast
Some of our apprentices and graduates were able to attend a reception on board RFA Argus Here you can see Saul Irvine, Christine Fairley, Russell McGuicken pictured on board
Reflecting on 2022, Group CEO, John Wood said "Harland & Wolff has continued to grow at a pace, having secured major contract wins such as the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) Programme and M55 regeneration programme, it is now well on its journey to revitalising shipbuilding and fabrication skills at all it sites "
Looking to the future, he set out the group's ambitions for skills: "There is a substantial opportunity within our five markets, our biggest operational challenge is an appropriately skilled workforce to secure and deliver on the growth opportunity To address this, the Group has a fast-growing apprenticeship scheme We employed our first intake of 37 apprentices in 2021 and we saw this increase to 64 in 2022 We will continue to increase our total number of apprentices to over 100 during the next academic year We are building for the future and taking this path is critical to ensure enough skills are available as we continue to grow the business
You can find the full annual report on our company website
Harland & Wolff secured a prime plot at the Global Offshore Wind show in Excel London Global Offshore Wind is a renewables show Located front and centre, it allowed team members to meet with developers and contractors who want to build offshore windfarm structures in our yards, as well as those who want to build support vessels too
Demolition works at the iconic Belfast Harland & Wolff shipyard have begun marking the start of a journey to becoming the UK’s most technologically advanced shipyard
Following the award of the manufacturing subcontract with Navantia in relation to the £1 6 billion FSS warship programme, Harland & Wolff confirmed it would see the £77 million invested in technology in its Belfast and Appledore shipyards Works have commenced as it prepares to deliver on the contract win in 2023
An extension to the fabrication halls will be undertaken to facilitate a highly dynamic material and substructure
production flow along with a highly efficient manufacturing and production process Investments will be made in technologically advanced robotic and autonomous equipment that includes material movement, marking, plate cutting, panel lines and robotic welding
In addition, new larger paint buildings will be constructed to facilitate larger and more efficient block painting
Full scale ship fabrication is due to commence in 2025 with the vessels due to be delivered to meet the Ministry Of Defence’s objective to bring three ships into service by 2032
Our Appledore team partnered with Surfers Against Sewage to undertake a mass beach clean Several team members set off on a mission to clean up the North Devon coastline
There were so many volunteers that they were also able to go into the community and clean up there too!
Arnish recently loaded out port infrastructure components for a mining company, Lumina for their mine based in Greenland
Team members enjoyed the clean up so much that the yard plans to run another clean up as part of our Group-wide action day on World Clean Up Day on 18th September
If you want to get involved with your local clean up, let your Social Value Champion know!
The project awarded in August 2023 has supported the introduction of 15 apprentices and the employment of 85 workers in the Arnish facility
The Onego Duero MV (the longest vessel to berth at Stornoway Port) arrived at Arnish Quayside to pick up the components as well as other locally sourced products required for mining
The Lumina CEO, Andrew Fagan said "I was delighted with the way the project was executed at Arnish, this is a significant investment for Lumina in the Greenland mine and the quality of the workmanship from the Arnish workforce was excellent I was also very encouraged by the commitment to bring in the next generation of workforce and with the considerable local social impact of the project in the Outer Hebrides "
Ian Murray MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland visited our Methil yard He was given a tour of the yard and observed the ongoing work to produce new barges
Two football teams from our Arnish yard battled it out for the Harland & Wolff Football trophy, in aid of two local charities
In a highly competitive and enjoyable match the Under 35’s just overcame the Over 35’s
They raised £1,530 which will be split between the Leanne Fund and the Hebridean Mens Cancer Support Charity
Defence work continues at pace in Appledore with fabrication works on Smite 2 completing on schedule and successfully delivered on 31st May
The Appledore yard worked with Herbosch-Kiere to fabricate a pontoon that has now replaced the RNLI Tower Lifeboat Station just under Waterloo Bridge on the north bank of the Thames
The steel pontoon measured around 53 metres by 14 metres and weighed 450 tonnes
The team manufactured the foundation, stairways and handrails for the RNLI lifeboat station
The station was officially opened by the Duke of Kent, marking his 29th naming ceremony
He had to use materials from home, such as boxes and bottles and was not allowed to buy special materials such as Lego He also had to be able to carry it by himself
As you can see, Daniel certainly can carry it!
When asked what he wanted to be when he grows up, he said "I'd like to be a boss and run a company" John Wood, watch this space!
1 When was the last vessel built in our Methil yard?
2 When was Harland & Wolff formed?
3 Which is larger - Samson or Goliath?
4 What “P” side of a boat refers to the left-hand area of that boat?
5 When was the first modern wind turbine built?
Q: What did the wandering crab say when he finally made it back to the ocean?
A: Long time no sea
