The Belfast shipyard that built the Titanic has been bought for $7.38 million, saving it from closure. 

A London-based energy firm, InfraStrata bought the Harland and Wolff shipyard after it went into administration this August, when its Norwegian parent company folded.  

Following that workers, supported by their unions, began a nine-week occupation of the shipyard to protest against the 120 jobs at risk. 

New owners InfraStrata said they will retain the 79 workers who are still working at the plant, those that did not accept voluntary redundancy. Over the next five years, InfraStrata said they plan to take on hundreds more staff. 

The yard is now set to work on an underground gas storage facility at Islandmagee in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith said he was delighted with the move. "I firmly believe that the shipyard has a promising future and that InfraStrata's plans present an exciting opportunity for both Belfast and Northern Ireland's manufacturing and energy sectors," he said.

John Wood, InfraStrata chief executive, said: "Harland and Wolff is a landmark asset and its reputation as one of the finest multi-purpose fabrication facilities in Europe is testament to its highly skilled team in Belfast."

Opened in 1861, Harland and Wolff employed more than 30,000 people at its peak during World War Two. The shipyard is famed for constructing the ill-fated Titanic, which sank on her maiden 1912 voyage from Southampton to New York leaving an estimated 1,517 dead.