There's fresh hope that a new contract could get the Appledore shipyard reopened.
It's been a year since the yard shut down with the loss of more than a hundred jobs.
Workers leaving the shipyard as the gates closed. Credit: ITV News West CountryThere have been ships on the water recently but not as much as there used to be. Credit: ITV News West Country
There are fears that skilled workers that used to work on the yard will continue to leave the area in search of work elsewhere and it will be hard to get them back.
Local MP Geoffrey Cox tweeted this photograph in November last year as officials discussed future business for Appledore Shipyard Credit: ITV News West Country
In November Boris Johnson met the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands to discuss a proposed contract to build a new fleet of fishing boats for them at Appledore.
Union representatives hope that will get the doors open again but insist it must be backed up further orders if workers return
The Faroe Islands contract could mean four years of work on a fleet of five fishing vessels.
It has yet to be fully signed off but sources say there could be some positive news later this week.
