Harland & Wolff, the 163-year-old firm that built the Titanic, has declared itself insolvent after failing to secure funding to continue trading. The loss-making UK shipbuilder said Monday that it would likely begin administration proceedings in the coming days. Administration provides a way for companies in the United Kingdom to restructure when they cannot pay their debts, as opposed to being wound up, or liquidated, immediately.
In 2019, the British government named an administrator to restructure the firm, but months later it was thrown a lifeline when UK energy company InfraStrata agreed to buy it. Last year, Harland & Wolff, which completed the Titanic in 1912, delivered its first finished vessel from its historic Belfast site in two decades.