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Three Royal Navy support ships are to be built in Belfast after a consortium including Harland and Wolff was selected as the preferred bidder.

The £1.6bn Ministry of Defence contract is still subject to final treasury and ministerial approval which is expected early next year.

The contract is expected to create 1,200 jobs at UK shipyards, 900 of which are believed to be in Belfast.

Harland and Wolff last built a ship in 2003 when the Anvil Point was launched.

Team Resolute, a consortium comprising of BMT, Harland and Wolff and Navantia UK, would manufacture the support ships which will provide munitions, stores and provisions to the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates deployed at sea.

The proposal pledges that the entire final assembly for these ships would be completed at Harland and Wolff's shipyard in Belfast.

Blocks and modules for the ships would also be constructed in Belfast, with other work carried out at the company's North Devon site in Appledore and at Methil and Arnish in Scotland.

Each of the three ships, which will be as long as two Premier League football pitches, would be built using Bath-based company BMT's designs.

Build work would also take place at Navantia's shipyard in Cadiz, Spain.

The deal aims to deliver 200 further education opportunities, with Harland and Wolff's welding academy set to train 300 new UK welders during the contract.

Harland and Wolff's chief executive John Wood said the team will make a significant investment into the UK.

"We will create high quality UK jobs, apprenticeships and four facilities across the UK will have shipbuilding capabilities fit for the 21st century," he said.

He added: "I think the exciting thing is really ramping up that skill base and continuing to build it, seeing a ship coming out of Belfast again that we can all be proud of and putting Belfast back on the international map."

Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said it was a "fantastic testimony to Belfast's shipbuilding heritage and reputation for innovation and expertise".

The UK's defence secretary, Ben Wallace, said the contract will "bolster technology transfer and key skills from a world-renowned shipbuilder".

Production of the ships is due to start in 2025 with all three expected to be operational by 2032.