Belfast shipyard cuts blamed for €40m loss

Belfast's Harland & Wolff shipyard made a loss of more than £26 million sterling (€40.8 million) last year, according to figures released by its Norwegian parent, Olsen Energy.

Cutback costs are cited for the losses. Employees have been reduced from 1,500 to 500 in the past year.

Olsen Energy warned in its year-end report that more jobs would be lost if a £60 million sterling British Ministry of Defence contract won last October did not start in time. Work on the two roll-on roll-off ferries is not expected to begin for some months and the shipyard has no other orders on its books. Progressive Unionist MLA for East Belfast Mr David Ervine is concerned that the Ministry of Defence contract might be lost altogether due to unresolved legal issues. "I am deeply worried about whether this order will come to fruition," he said.

Most shipyard workers were yesterday put on short-time, 30-hour week contracts because of the lack of work.

Harland & Wolff received more than £90 million in financial support in the past 1-1/2 years from its parent company, which now expects the Belfast firm to stand on its own financial feet.

Mr Alan Robson, general secretary of the Confederation of Shipbuilding Engineering Unions, hoped union officials would be consulted before any further redundancies were announced. "If the company has any plans for the workforce, we should be the first to know, as our members will be the first to suffer," he said.

The North's Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, Sir Reg Empey, was said to be following the developments closely.

"Everything that can be done is being done to help the company secure its future," according to a departmental spokesperson.

A spokesperson for Harland & Wolff confirmed the company was in negotiations with Seamasters International to secure a £200 million sterling contract for four ships.

Meanwhile, the shipyard continues its legal dispute with Global Marine to recover £23 million it claims it is owed for a deep water drill ship built last summer.

Global Marine said it withheld the money because the ship was not completed in time or to specification. An appeal by Harland & Wolff is expected to reach the Court of Appeal in weeks.