A new fabrication hall has opened at Navantia UK's Harland & Wolff site in Belfast, capping a record year of defence investment in Northern Ireland. The facility is the centrepiece of a £157 million programme across Navantia UK's four shipyards, with around £100 million invested in Belfast and support for 900 skilled jobs and apprenticeships.

Named Resurgent Hall, the expanded building adds 5,000 square metres of fabrication space and is equipped with new cranes, robotic plasma-cutting technology and a mechanised panel line, giving the Belfast yard the capability to deliver the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme.

During the opening, Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry Luke Pollard MP formally inaugurated the hall, highlighting the scale of investment across the company's UK sites.

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.

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"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."

Recent Ministry of Defence figures show defence investment in Northern Ireland rose by 63% in real terms in 2025/26 to £464 million, the highest level since records began, equivalent to about £240 per person.

Alongside the new hall, Navantia UK is refurbishing the landmark Samson & Goliath cranes as part of a modernisation drive to expand yard capacity and increase its ability to deliver complex builds.

Navantia UK is the prime contractor for the FSS programme and is leading the fabrication and final assembly of the three ships — RFA Resurgent, Reliant and Resourceful — supported by £1.6 billion of Ministry of Defence funding. Work remains on schedule and within budget, with all three vessels due to enter service in the early 2030s to replenish Royal Navy task groups at sea.

Since acquiring the Harland & Wolff, Appledore, Methil and Arnish sites in January 2025, Navantia has grown into one of the UK's leading shipbuilding employers, supporting more than 1,300 jobs and over 340 apprentices across Northern Ireland, England and Scotland, and committing to create 750 apprenticeships by 2030.

Navantia UK CEO, Donato Martinez, 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 for a reason. Jobs, investment and activity are resurgent in shipbuilding. Belfast is at 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."

Keith Bethell, NAD Group 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."

UK naval shipbuilding is underpinned by the Defence Investment Plan, which commits £298 billion to defence over the next four years.