Harland and Wolff has secured contracts for work on two large cruise ships this summer. 

Next month Cunard's Queen Victoria will arrive in Belfast making it the largest cruise ship to ever drydock in a UK shipyard.

It will be followed in June by P&O Cruises' Aurora. 

Both ships will be worked on by the famous Belfast Shipyard, Harland and Wolff. The contracts have been described as a "double-win" for the company.

The works on both ships are said to be standard operations and will take 33 days in total. 

It's a significant step in a key target market for Harland and Wolff, which sees the contracts as an opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities in Belfast to the wider cruise industry.  

In 2019, the future of Harland and Wolff's iconic shipyard was in doubt.

A rescue deal by new owner InfraStrata secured jobs and has seen the business enter new sectors. 

In statement group chief executive John Wood said: "We have now secured contracts in four out of our five markets; commercial, cruise and ferry, renewables and energy - we now look forward to completing the final milestone of securing a defence contract in the near future."

Harland and Wolff also has its sights set on maximising the potential from a UK strategy to build 150 domestic vessels over the coming years.