Belfast based shipbuilder Harland and Wolff has formally moved into administration.

Administrators were appointed on Friday afternoon after the company gave indications last week that this would happen.

It is the second time the business has been placed in administration in five years.

The administration process will be confined to the holding company, Harland & Wolff Group Holdings PLC, and the operational companies which run the yards are expected to continue trading.

Last week the company said between 50-60 immediate redundancies are expected but added that staff employed at its four shipyards are not affected.

Harland and Wolff, which famously built the Titanic, has four shipyards – one in Belfast, two in Scotland (Methil on the Firth of Forth and Arnish on the Isle of Lewis) and one in England (Appledore in north Devon).

The company is part of a consortium that landed a major contract to build new fleet solid support ships for the Royal Navy.

It had applied for a £200 million loan guarantee from the Government as part of efforts to restructure its finances.

However, the Government decided in August not to act as a guarantor on the lending – while also ruling out direct funding to maintain the company’s liquidity.