H&W hard at work as ferry and cruise firms use the shutdown to dock in city for maintenance
cruise industry is in the worst crisis in its history as a result of coronavirus, and passenger ferries have also taken a hit in lockdown.
But for Harland & Wolff, itself facing a fight for survival a year ago, the stricken industries are a major source of work as cruise ships and ferries take up residence in its dry docks for maintenance.
Instead of sailing around the world, three ships from Viking Cruises — affectionately called the “three sisters” — are being refitted by H&W staff.
And ferry company Stena is sending its vessels to the dry dock in contracts worth £2.5m, as it marks 40 years of working with the firm.
H&W said: “We have remained open throughout this pandemic and provided critical services to keep ships in service.
“Now that economies are opening up across the world, we are starting to see more ships come into the yard.
“We have two of Europe’s largest dry docks, which means we have the ability to take several large vessels and still have plenty of space for more.”
This week the Viking Cruises vessels arrived at H&W, now part of Infrastrata plc.
Chief executive John Wood tweeted that it was the first time “three sisters have been alongside in H&W for several decades”.
Six Stena Line Irish Sea vessels will dry-dock at the shipyard this summer for repairs and upgrades.
The Stena Europe, which sails from Rosslare to Fishguard, is in Belfast at the minute. And final works are to be completed on the Superfast VIII (Belfast-cairnryan service) at the end of September.
Stena Line has a long history with H&W. Sealink, which was later bought by Stena Line, took delivery of the Belfast-built MV Galloway Princess in 1980. It operated for many years.
Paul Grant, director of Stena
Line’s Irish Sea operations, said: “Despite the dramatic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our business, regular ship upgrades and maintenance works are a very important element in our ship management operation. They help us to maintain our excellent reliability record and keep our Irish Sea fleet to the forefront of the ferry sector.”
He said despite an investment in three new ships, improvements to its existing fleet RETHE mained crucial. The harmonious activity at H&W is a far cry from this time last year when then parent company Dolphin Drilling filed for bankruptcy, leading to months of turmoil for the Belfast company founded in 1861.
When H&W itself went into administration, a union-led sit-in brought the world’s eyes back to H&W. But the crisis ended happily with the sale to Infrastrata in October.
Meanwhile, for passengers the cruise industry is in hibernation. Sandra Corkin, owner of travel agency Oasis Travel, believes there will be a renaissance, however.
“I’m very confident that the cruise business will come back,” she said. “Companies have been very proactive in the middle of all this trying to get people’s bookings changed rather than cancelled.”
She said coronavirus meant life on board would be transformed, but added: “I know I can’t wait to get something organised for the new year.”
There would not be any restart this summer, she warned, partly because ships have to be readied for observing social distancing and because many ports are not open.
“At this stage, cruises will be delayed or postponed until mid-september, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was delayed again,” she said.