Troubled British shipyard group Harland & Wolff, builders of the original Titanic, have refused a lifeline by Australian billionaire Clive Palmer to stay afloat.

Mr Palmer, whose company Mineralogy holds nearly 3% of the issued capital in Harland & Wolf, has blasted the shipbuilder for refusing meetings while engaging Rothschild & Co as financial adviser to assess the group’s strategic options.

“Pre-organised site meetings in Belfast have been suddenly cancelled and financial advisors have been appointed in what appears on the surface to be a dirty deal in the making,’’ Mr Palmer said.

With the new UK Government refusing to bail out the crisis-hit company, Mr Palmer had expressed interest in making a $200 million financial contribution on top of a potential contract of up to $1 billion to build Titanic II.

Mr Palmer is one of Australia’s wealthiest individuals, ranked sixth on the nation’s rich list with assets of $23 billion and zero debt.

“They are clearly in dire straits and interim chairman Russell Downs will not even agree to a face-to-face meeting with me,’’ Palmer said.

 “As Harland & Wolff shares are currently suspended, I would have thought it would be in the interests of the shareholders that additional capital arrangements could be made to secure the company’s future.

“These actions should raise alarm bells. It appears to me that the company and its advisors are not acting in the best interests of its shareholders. Are they working on a dirty deal that sells them out?”

“There should be a government enquiry into Harland & Wolff,’’ Mr Palmer said.

Harland & Wolff recently announced that it had entered arrangements with existing lenders to increase its existing facility by US $25,000,000, to $140,000,000.

The company has also terminated the employment its CEO, and axed a major fast ferry service as it winds down what it describes as non-core business.

Sizeable job losses are feared for Harland & Wolff who employ about 1,500 people, mainly at its Belfast shipyard as well as at two smaller facilities in Scotland and one in England.

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