Titanic builder Harland & Wolff appoints administrators, to cut jobs

(Reuters) -British shipbuilder Harland & Wolff said on Friday it had appointed administrators and that would lead to job losses, as the company best known for building the Titanic struggled to get funding.

The company, which currently employs 66 staff, said the administrators would be required to cut an unspecified number of jobs, although it would retain “a number” of employees for certain required services.

The Belfast-based shipbuilder, which narrowly avoided closure in 2019, said its subsidiaries in Belfast, Scotland and Appledore, England, were not subject to the insolvency processes and were continuing to trade under the control of their directors.

In July, the UK government declined the company’s request for a credit facility of 200 million pounds ($268.32 million). The company’s CEO was sent on immediate leave in the same month, and the finance chief stepped down in September.

($1 = 0.7454 pounds)