As the titanic was launched in the spring of 1911, people in Belfast were very proud. There, in the Harland & Wolff shipyard, what was then the largest ship in the world was built. A 270 meter long luxury liner that could accommodate more than 2200 passengers and crew. The fate of titanic is world famous, about 1500 people died when the ship in 1912 on the way from Europe to America collided with an iceberg and sank. The story of the tragic sinking has been told countless times since then. It’s that time again in Belfast.
This time, however, it’s less about them titanic than the shipyard in which she was built. Harland & Wolff has repeatedly faced bankruptcy over the past few decades, most recently four years ago when the company had to file for bankruptcy. But now there is hope again. British entrepreneur John Wood, who bought the yard in 2020 for £6m (€6.8m), has landed a new order. In cooperation with the Spanish armaments company Navantia, Harland & Wolff is to build three ships for the British Navy.
The order from the Royal Navy is worth 1.6 billion pounds, which is the equivalent of around 1.8 billion euros. If the British government has its way, it will not only revitalize an industry icon, but also a region that is one of the poorest in the UK. Shipyard owner Wood expresses it in conversation with the Financial Times like, “We got a chance here.”
He wants to use this chance. For his shipyard and for Belfast. No ship has been launched here for 20 years. That should change now. Construction of the naval boats is scheduled to begin in 2025 and be completed in 2032. By then, shipyard owner Wood wants to quintuple the number of employees, which currently stands at 210. From a historical perspective, that’s not exactly a lot. Harland & Wolff employed more than 30,000 people during the war.
In the Titanic Quarter, people sit outside in the evenings, eat and drink
Two of the shipyard’s yellow cranes still characterize the silhouette of the Northern Irish capital today. Called Samson and Goliath, they are symbols of economic ebb and flow. In the early 20th century, ships built in Belfast were considered the finest in the world. The docks were the pride of the whole city, bringing with them one thing above all: well-paid jobs.
The Harland & Wolff shipyard was founded in 1861 by the British Edward Harland and Gustav Wolff from Hamburg. Their shipyard specialized in the production of ocean liners. Ships of the so-called “Olympic” class were built in Belfast, including the titanic counted.
The history of the luxury liner can best be traced in Belfast in the Titanic Quarter. A museum was opened there to mark the 100th anniversary of the shipwreck. It has six floors, just like they once did titanic. From the top you have a wonderful view of the shipyard, Samson and Goliath. Right next to it is Titanic Studios, where part of the “Game of Thrones” series was filmed. In the evenings, people sit outside by the water in the Titanic Quarter, drinking and eating.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, shipyard boss John Wood and Northern Ireland Minister Chris Heaton-Harris (from left) at Harland & Wolff in December last year.
(PHOTO: CHARLES MCQUILLAN/AFP)
If you will, the district represents the new Belfast. Unlike the neighborhoods along the Peace Walls, there are no Irish and British flags here, a reminder of the never-ending strife between loyalist Protestants and Republican Catholics. For a city that is far from overcoming the wounds of the bloody Northern Ireland conflict, this is anything but a matter of course.
It is remarkable that Harland & Wolff, of all things, is now a former stronghold of the Protestant workforce and should stand for the future of the city. In any case, the British government hopes that shipbuilding in Belfast will experience a revival. When British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace visited the Harland & Wolff shipyard in January, not only was he impressed by the story, he also pledged a £4 billion program for the shipbuilding industry. Not only Belfast should benefit from this, but also many other locations in the kingdom.
Whether that pays off remains to be seen. In the titanic-City of Belfast, there is at least hope that shipbuilding has a future here. And that’s something.