Posted by Max Bottomtime on January 28, 2003 at 17:35:40:
Last Ship Named at Harland & Wolff
January 26: The ANVIL POINT, likely to be the last ship built by the
Harland and Wolff yard, was officially named at a ceremony in Belfast on January 17th. When completed in a few weeks, she will leave all but 130 members of the work force behind. The famed shipyard once had as many as 35,000 employees on its books.
Founded in 1861, Harland & Wolff became famous as one of the world's best-equipped shipbuilding facilities. During the First and Second World Wars, it
played a prominent role in building British naval vessels. The yard, which is 92 per cent owned by Norwegian construction group Fred Olsen Energy, has gone through several rounds of job cuts in recent years in response to stiff competition from the Far East, falling world prices and costly overheads.
ANVIL POINT is their 1,742nd ship in a long history of important ships including the passenger vessels TITANIC, CANBERRA, SOUTHERN CROSS and KENYA CASTLE.
Chris Cadieux, LostLiners.Com