Harland & Wolff has lined up administrators as vulture funds prepare to pick apart the company behind the shipyard that built the Titanic. Contingency plans have been drawn up by insolvency experts from Teneo in case financial advisers fail to thrash out an interim rescue.

While Deloitte is advising the Harland & Wolff board, and EY is advising the government on its options.

The shipbuilder already owes US hedge fund Riverstone $115 million on a loan that bosses have been trying to refinance, A further 20 million loan is under discussion.

In the meanwhile, US technology stock dived sharply yesterday after lacklustre overnight results from Tesla and Alphabet in a sector that has driven the bulk market gains this year. The Nasdaq Composite was down 3 per cent by mid-afternoon in New York with Alphabet 5.1 per cent lower despite narrowly beating analyst revenue forecasts, while Tesla sank 11 per cent after profits fell well short of expectations, leaving the electric-car make the biggest one day decline since January.