Navantia UK opens Resurgent Hall in Belfast following major investment in the shipyard
The facility was opened by Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP and is the centrepiece of almost £100 million being invested in Belfast since Navantia acquired Harland & Wolff in January 2025.
The investment forms part of a wider £157 million programme to modernise Navantia UK’s four sites and strengthen the UK’s shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing capability.
The opening of Resurgent Hall marks an important step in the renewal of one of the UK’s best-known shipyards. It will support the construction of three new Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and provide Belfast with the facilities needed to compete for future naval and commercial work.
The extended hall provides an additional 5,000 square metres of fabrication space. It includes robotic plasma-cutting equipment, refurbished cranes and a new mechanised panel line, allowing ship sections to be produced more efficiently and accurately.
Navantia UK now supports more than 1,300 jobs and over 340 apprentices across its four UK sites. The company has set an ambition to increase the number of apprentices it supports to 750 by 2030, creating more routes into careers in welding, fabrication, engineering, design and digital manufacturing.
Donato Martínez, CEO of Navantia UK, said:
“Shipbuilding is returning to Belfast. We are turning Harland & Wolff into one of the most advanced shipyards in Europe. Our new fabrication hall will be equipped to build state-of-the-art ships to serve and defend the UK for generations to come.
“We’ve named it Resurgent Hall for a reason. Jobs, investment and activity are resurgent in shipbuilding. Belfast is at the heart of that revival, and the Fleet Solid Support programme is the first of many projects we aim to deliver here for the Ministry of Defence.”
Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP said:
“Few sights in the UK are more evocative of our industrial heritage than the Samson and Goliath cranes, and it’s fitting that this new hall sits on the shoulders of these iconic giants.
“Belfast continues with its proud shipbuilding history by building the modern shipbuilding capability the country needs today, with this new fabrication hall at the heart of it.
“Navantia’s £157 million investment across its UK yards shows what sustained investment in shipbuilding delivers: good jobs, growing skills, and the support ships our Navy needs.”
Minister for Northern Ireland Sarah Owen said:
“Standing in Navantia’s state-of-the-art fabrication hall is a great reminder of the scale of UK Government defence investment in Northern Ireland, with £460 million spent here by the Ministry of Defence in the last year – equivalent to £240 per person.
“This impressive facility is a key milestone in the UK Government’s Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme, which has invested around £100 million in Belfast alone.
“Navantia is building on Belfast’s historic shipbuilding legacy while supporting hundreds of skilled jobs and apprenticeships, ensuring that it remains at the heart of the UK’s defence industry while boosting economic growth.”
Keith Bethell, NAD Maritime Director, said:
“The opening of the Resurgent Fabrication Hall is a clear sign that growth in UK shipbuilding is happening right now, in Belfast. This investment is renewing our industrial capability, creating skilled jobs and apprenticeships, and strengthening the supply chains that underpin our national resilience. It gives us the modern capability we need to deliver the Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and lays the foundations for Belfast to compete for future UK naval and maritime programmes.”
Resurgent Hall will play a leading role in the delivery of the £1.6 billion Fleet Solid Support programme. Navantia UK is building three new vessels, RFA Resurgent, RFA Reliant and RFA Resourceful, for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
The ships will provide ammunition, supplies and provisions to Royal Navy vessels and carrier strike groups at sea, helping the UK sustain naval operations around the world.
Construction is already under way. Steel cutting began at Navantia UK’s Appledore shipyard in December 2025, followed by the laying of the keel for the first vessel, RFA Resurgent, in September 2026.
Appledore is constructing the bow sections of all three ships. Belfast will undertake major fabrication work, final assembly, systems integration and testing. The three vessels are scheduled to enter service in the early 2030s.
Work at the Belfast shipyard extends beyond Resurgent Hall. Navantia UK is also carrying out a major refurbishment of the iconic Samson and Goliath cranes, preparing them to support a new era of naval and commercial shipbuilding.
Since acquiring the former Harland & Wolff facilities in Belfast, Appledore, Methil and Arnish in January 2025, Navantia UK has begun a substantial programme of investment across all four sites.
The company has increased its investment commitment from £115 million to £157 million. The programme is modernising facilities, introducing advanced manufacturing technology and developing the workforce needed for shipbuilding and complex fabrication.
It is also generating opportunities across the UK supply chain, with local businesses supporting both the modernisation of the sites and the delivery of major programmes.
