Administrators overseeing Harland & Wolff have raised hopes of finding a potential buyer for the closure-threatened shipyard.
“Since our appointment, there has been positive discussions with interested parties for the sale of the business as a going concern,” a spokesman today for BDO Northern Ireland said.
“It is hoped that these discussions may result in credible offers.”
Michael Jennings and Brian Murphy were earlier this month appointed as joint administrators of Harland & Wolff, which has been occupied by workers around the clock for over two weeks in a campaign to save the Belfast yard.
News media have quoted Susan Fitzgerald of the trade union Unite as saying that she understood buyers had to step forward with bids for the business as an ongoing concern by noon on Friday.
Unite wants the yard, famed for building the ill-fated Titanic, to be renationalised so that jobs are protected.
BDO NI says that because of interest from prospective purchasers the administrators, in tandem with the unions and workforce, intend to continue the unpaid temporary layoff of workers beyond today.
“The limited retained team of workers are continuing to maintain the site and assist the administrators in carrying out their duties,” the spokesman said.
Harland & Wolff was put up for sale by troubled Norwegian owner Dolphin Drilling last year to raise capital but failed to find a buyer.
The Scottish government this week said it was “ready and willing” to nationalise another of the UK’s few remaining shipyards, Ferguson Marine Engineering.
It filed for administration after suffering losses building two LNG-fuelled ropaxes for the state-controlled ferry company CalMac.
