Titanic Shipbuilder Goes Bankrupt

Harland & Wolff says core operations won't be affected by filing
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2024 5:40 PM CDT
Company That Built Titanic Goes Bankrupt
Britain's then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, left, visits the Harland & Wolff shipyard factory accompanied by Northern Ireland Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris, right, and H&W CEO John Wood in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Friday Dec. 16, 2022.   (Charles McQuillan/Pool via AP)

The company that built the Titanic has entered administration, the British equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, for the second time in five years. Harland & Wolff said it had been left in a "difficult financial position" by the British government's rejection of a request for a $264 million loan, CNN reports. The company said "non-core" jobs would be cut but its core operations would continue to operate while it is in administration, including the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic.

In recent years, the company has focused on ship repair, but it delivered its first new vessel from its Belfast shipyard in 20 years last year and it has a contract to build three new ships for the Royal Navy, reports CNN. The company previously entered administration in 2019. The New York Times reports that it "seemed to get a lifeline" when it was bought by energy company InfraStrata and won the Royal Navy contract, but it was unable to overcome longstanding financial issues. (More bankruptcy stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X