Crisis-hit Harland and Wolff has secured an additional £19.5m from its US lenders as it battles to stave off administration.
The Belfast shipyard, which built the Titanic, said it had entered into agreements with its existing lenders to increase its credit facility by $25m (£19.5m), bringing the total to $140m.
It comes after the Financial Times reported the firm had been holding last ditch talks with its Wall Street backer Riverstone Credit Partners throughout the last fortnight.
It is thought a condition of the agreement had been the departure of John Wood, chief executive, who left on 19 July following the new Labour government’s decision to not provide a £200m loan guarantee seen as critical to the company’s survival.
Harland and Wolff has appointed Rothschild and Co as financial advisers as it assesses its options.
“We are grateful to our lenders in continuing their funding commitment to support Harland & Wolff Group’s ongoing stabilisation and long-term strategy objectives. We also look forward to working with the very experienced team from Rothschild & Co to help us achieve that objective,” Malcolm Groat, Chairman of Harland & Wolff, said.
News of the deal will provide some relief to the a 1,500 workers employed by the group across its four sites in Belfast, Devon and Methil and Arnish in Scotland.
However, the announcement was followed by a decision from the shipyard to withdraw its Scilly Isle ferries service, which runs between the islands and Penzance.
The new Scilly Ferries service was set to run its first trips on 22 July, but kick-off was delayed due to Harland’s financial issues.
City A.M. reported on Monday that the group was also at risk of losing a separate £120m contract to develop a port in the Falkland Islands capital.
In a statement, Harland said it would be “winding down business lines that are deemed to be non-core for the company” as it looks to cut costs.
Groad said: “It is regrettable that we have taken the tough decision to terminate the fast ferry, but we need to focus our energies and resources in continuing to grow the core business across our four delivery centres.
“This decision aligns with and brings us back to our fundamental five markets and six services strategy. Our ferry service team will be working closely with passengers and other counterparties to ensure a smooth transition out of this business.”