[3] Barrow shipyard is one of the largest in the United Kingdom (it has built well over 800 vessels in its history), rivalled only by those in Belfast, Birkenhead and Govan.

The port is heavily involved with the transportation of natural gases and other forms of energy from local sites such as Sellafield, Barrow Offshore Windfarm, Ormonde Wind Farm, Rampside Gas Terminal and Roosecote Power Station.

[8] In 1839 Henry Schneider arrived at Barrow-in-Furness as a young speculator and dealer in iron, and in 1850 he discovered large deposits of haematite.

He and other investors founded the Furness Railway, the first section of which opened in 1846 to transport the ore from the slate quarries at Kirkby-in-Furness and haematite mines at Lindal-in-Furness to a deep water harbour near Roa Island.

Barrow's relative isolation from the United Kingdom's industrial heartlands meant that the newly-formed company included several capabilities that would usually be subcontracted to other establishments.

The company constructed Vickerstown, modelled on George Cadbury's Bournville, on the adjacent Walney Island in the early 20th century to house its employees.

Well-known ships built in Barrow include Mikasa, the Japanese flagship during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, the liner Oriana and the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMAS Melbourne.

The shipyard's dependency on military contracts at the expense of civilian and commercial engineering and shipbuilding meant it was particularly hard hit as government defence spending was reduced dramatically.

[18] This has led to interest in the possibilities of converting military-industrial production in declining shipbuilding areas to the offshore renewable energy sector.

[4] Some 41,000 tonnes of wood pulp per year are now imported here from Flushing, Netherlands, and transported to the larger Kimberly-Clark plant in Ormsgill.

[4] The PNTL vessel Pacific Heron is based at the port of Barrow, and is used to transport nuclear material between nearby Sellafield and Japan.

[4] A new purpose-built cruise ship terminal alongside Walney Channel was proposed as part of the multi-million pound waterfront development (see the 'Future' heading).