They often keep the firm operating if there is a chance of selling it as a going concern. In March, financial advisers Close Brothers were appointed to try and resolve the issue of the mounting interest on the group's debts. Cammell Laird's fate was reportedly sealed by the Royal Bank of Scotland who declined to extend overdraft and payment facilities on a 50m loan. The company has already laid-off 450 workers because of the failed Italian contract. The ship yard's troubles come as a further embarrassment to the UK government which is already grappling with 1,500 job losses at Marconi and another 3,200 at Motorola's plant in Scotland.
Hopes are high among unions and workers that the yard can continue to operate.
The current Cammell Laird company grew out of Coastline group which initially rented part of the derelict Cammell Laird dockyard. In the mid-1990s it changed its name to Cammell Laird, growing from a small operation to employing hundreds as it built a lucrative and profitable trade repairing and refitting vessels. In autumn 2000 the group recorded a record level of enquiries, totalling approximately 750m, but it failed to convert these into orders, with two major government contracts going to other yards. Cammell Laird's shares were suspended on Wednesday morning at their Tuesday closing price of 6p, valuing the company at 17.3m. The ship's operator, Costa Crociere, pulled the plug on the order to lengthen the vessel as the ship was sailing to Cammell Laird's yard.