On the go: Harland and Wolff Pension Scheme, the Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic, has entered an assessment period at the Pension Protection Fund after the company went into administration.
The pensions lifeboat is Harland and Wolff’s biggest unsecured creditor, with the pension scheme having a deficit of £84.6m, stated an official document from administrators BDO Northern Ireland, published earlier this month.
According to the Belfast Telegraph, the scheme has 2,633 pensioner and deferred members.
A PPF spokesperson confirmed that the scheme has entered an assessment period.
The spokesperson said: “The PPF currently protects more than 250,000 people whose employers have failed and members of the Harland and Wolff scheme can be reassured of our protection.”
Harland and Wolff entered into administration in the summer after its Norwegian parent company, Dolphin Drilling, failed to find a buyer. The company was a key industrial producer during the second world war, when it had around 35,000 staff.
In the meantime, the shipyard company has been sold to InfraStrata – in a deal that completed on December 5 – rescuing the 79 jobs.
