Harland & Wolff, the 163-year-old firm that built the Titanic, has declared itself insolvent after failing to secure funding to continue trading.

For the second time in five years, the parent company of the shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, will enter administration, with Royal Navy contracts in the balance.

Staff employed by each of Harland & Wolff's four yards, including in Belfast, are not affected by redundancies.

Iconic shipbuilder Harland and Wolff, famed for constructing the doomed Titanic, said Monday it faced renewed financial difficulties, forcing it to offload non-core assets to preserve its shipyards.

The company that built the Titanic has entered administration, the British equivalent of US Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, for the second time in five years. Harland & Wolff said it had been left in a "difficult financial position" by the British government's rejection of a request for a $264 million loan,