THE new owners of Harland and Wolff has named its new management team for the rescued Belfast shipyard.
John Petticrew, who has a lengthy career in the marine construction sector, has been named the new managing director. Most recently, he held the post of vice president operations at Seaspan Shipyard in Vancouver, where he oversaw a 2,000-head operation.
Meanwhile, Paul Blake, the former head of projects at Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard Co in Bahrain, has been appointed operations director at the Belfast shipyard.
Infrastrata, which completed the purchase of the company out of administration earlier this month, has also announced the creation of a new subsidiary for Harland & Wolff (Belfast) Limited.
The London-based energy firm said Harland and Wolff Technical Services Limited will incorporate all the shipyard’s engineering functions internally.
Infrastra chief executive, John Wood described the appointments as a significant milestone for the new owners.
“Their combined experience of delivering and securing projects at large-scale fabrication facilities around the world means that our new business division is poised for an exciting period of growth,” he said.
“It also means that the Board is well positioned to maintain its focus on our flagship Islandmagee Gas Storage project.”
In recent days, a Seatruck vessel, which operates between Warrenpoint and Heysham, became the first ship to visit the Harland and Wolff shipyard since the takeover deal.
John Wood said talks with Spanish shipbuilder Navantia are “progressing at pace”, following a memorandum of understanding was agreed at the end of November.
