The new owners of Merseyside-based Cammell Laird are planning to re-launch the bankrupt shipbuilder later this year, according to reports.

A&P Holdings, which bought out Cammell Laird last year, told the Liverpool Echo newspaper that it has started bidding for contracts to carry out ship repairs at the disused yard in Birkenhead.

"It would be a slightly less ambitious plan, but it would get the yard going again. I would be disappointed if we haven't got something going this year," A&P chief executive David Ring said.

A&P, itself a ship repair specialist, suspended operations at the Merseyside shipyard in August, laying off its remaining 200 staff.

Unions' cautious welcome

Trade unions representing former Cammell Laird workers gave the plans a cautious welcome, pledging to work closely with A&P.

"What happened in August is a closed chapter and our priority now is to get the yard doing what it does best, and that is repairing ships," said Ted Gilbertson, regional officer with the Amalgamated Engineering & Electrical Workers' Union.

Cammell Laird's demise was hastened by the last-minute loss of a �50m contract to re-fit an Italian cruise ship.

The Merseyside firm, which had already invested large sums in the project, was left facing a financial crisis.

A&P put the company into receivership in April last year.