Harland & Wolff (H&W), the iconic Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, has been placed into administration.
The business was put up for sale by Norwegian owner Dolphin Drilling last year to raise capital but failed to find a buyer.
Accountancy and business advisory specialist BDO is reported to have been appointed as administrators and H&W will file for insolvency Tuesday.
Accountancy and business advisory specialist BDO Northern Ireland partners Michael Jennings and Brian Murphy have been appointed as joint administrators.
A spokesman for BDO Northern Ireland said: "After a long sales process, in which a buyer could not be found, the business has been unable to continue trading due to having insufficient funds following the recent insolvency of its ultimate parent.
"The team at BDO have engaged immediately with Harland & Wolff employees and other stakeholders to take all necessary steps to ensure they are supported throughout the administration process."
TradeWinds reported at the end of last week how an emergency meeting of Belfast City Council passed a motion urging the UK government to provide interim funding so H&W had time to seek a solution.
Trading at the yard was scheduled to cease at 5.15pm today.
H&W, founded 158 years ago, at its peak during World War 11 employed 30,000 workers.
Today, it is closer to 130, although 2,000 to 3,000 other jobs are said to depend on it remaining in business.
In recent times H&W has concentrated especially on projects involving renewable energy.
Turon Miah, principal associate at international law firm Gowling WLG, said that administrators are unlikely to be making a “cold start” in their efforts to market the business.
They are likely to have been liaising with the directors and potential interested purchasers for some or all of the business and its assets for weeks or months.
“We can expect the administrators to adopt a transparent marketing process and to then select a winning bidder on objective criteria and with the benefit of commercial and legal advice,” said Miah.
It is likely that the consent of secured creditors to any sale will be required and that “in itself will act as a check to ensure the best price reasonably possible is achieved,” he said.
There has been speculation that Newry-based MJM Marine could be a possible bidder post-administration.
“These will be tense times for the employees who wait to know their fate but all should become clear quite quickly,” added Miah.
A spokesman for Belfast City Council said efforts by council officers are continuing following last Friday’s motion but so far there was nothing to report.
The motion included convening an “urgent forum” between trades unions, Invest Northern Ireland and the UK government.
