Penny Mordaunt praises 'amazing' Belfast visit as work begins on shipbuilding contract

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt,  an Honorary Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, has had an "amazing" visit to Belfast as work begins on a multimillion-pound shipbuilding contract.

The Fleet Solid Support (FSS) contract with Royal Fleet Auxiliary unlocked £77m of investment for Belfast-based Harland & Wolff to build three 40,000-tonne vessels which will supply the Royal Navy fleet and Nato allies at sea.

 MP Ms Mordaunt visited Harland & Wolff, which is home to one of the largest deep-water dockyards in Europe, as upgrades to the shipyard got underway to facilitate the new contract, which she said was "brilliant news for the whole of the UK".

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'Amazing visit'

To mark the beginning of the work she met some of the apprentices who are due to work on the project.

Ms Mordaunt said she had been discussing the expansion work at Harland & Wolff.

"It's been fantastic to visit this incredibly important yard, which is really helping us bring shipbuilding back to the UK and enable us to expand that sector," she said.

"We've been discussing expanding the square footage of this yard and we've cut the turf today on that, but it's also about expanding jobs - 1,200 jobs here, 800 across the whole of the UK - but also knowledge, and this really unique project for the fleet support ships is doing that.

"It's building capacity here and we're getting knowledge transfer from our partners.

"So it's been an amazing, amazing visit."

Belfast's legacy of shipbuilding

The upgrade of the Belfast shipyard to adopt state-of-the-art shipbuilding techniques will look to underpin Harland & Wolff's capacity to deliver key naval programmes of FSS and beyond.

At the peak of the FSS contract, Harland & Wolff is expected to employ 1,200 personnel across its Belfast and Appledore shipyards, with an expected additional 800+ across the UK supply chain.

John Wood, Harland & Wolff's chief executive, said the work would continue Belfast's legacy of shipbuilding.

"It gives me great pleasure to see shovels in the ground as improvement works begin at our Belfast site," he said.

"Belfast has a long shipbuilding history, and our latest investments will enable the site to continue designing, building and maintaining technologically cutting-edge vessels for years to come."

'Hugely significant' step

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the work that had now begun was a "hugely significant step" in the FSS programme.

"Supporting hundreds of skilled jobs in Northern Ireland, the expansion of this historic site hails the beginning of shipbuilding's valiant return to Belfast, driving prosperity right across the Union," he said.

All three support ships are expected to be operational by 2032.