The Swan Hunter yard have been sold
The cranes at the Swan Hunter yard have been sold, ending nearly 150 years of shipbuilding.Owner Jaap Kroese, 67, confirmed the sale, which comes just three months after the world-famous Tyneside site shut with the loss of 800 jobs.The Dutch multi-millionaire, who rescued the yard from the receivers in 1995, said: "It has been the most terrible decision I have had to make in my life but sometimes you have to face the facts."All the shipbuilding equipment, including cranes, cutting, welding and burning equipment, has been sold."Kroese has said he wants to keep the Wallsend site as a manufacturing base - but recent reports stated it could be sold for housing.
In July, the RFA Lyme Bay was towed from Swan Hunter to the BAE Systems yard on the Clyde for completion. The cost of building the vessel on the Tyne rose from £160million to £309million, forcing the Ministry of Defence to pull the plug on the site's final job.
