SHIPBUILDER Swan Hunter is buying Kvaerner's Port Clarence offshore yard.

Swans will use the yard, which closed 18 months ago with the loss of 3,000 jobs, for offshore fabrication and will initially create about 200 jobs for skilled engineers and welders within the next two months.

Jaap Kroese, the Dutch owner and chairman of Swan Hunter, said that his offer had been accepted and that contracts could be exchanged within weeks.

He said: "It is a matter of weeks before we exchange contracts on the deal. There is no going back now."

Swans will use the yard for the fabrication of two accommodation units for Alternative Landing Ships Logistics vessels (ALSLs).

It won the £140m Ministry of Defence contract in February.

The yard will receive a further boost with a deal to decommission North Sea oil rigs for an Italian company, already in the bag.

Mr Kroese added: "All this work will create around 200 jobs at the yard. They should be employed within the next six weeks."

A spokesman for Kvaerner said: "Our negotiations with Swan Hunter have been very constructive although we have not yet exchanged contracts on the deal."

The GMB has welcomed the news. A spokesman for the union said: "This is very good news for the Teesside yard and is a real boost for the offshore industry in the area."

Stockton South MP, Dari Taylor said: "This is fantastic news. We are beginning to see shipbuilding re-emerge as an important industry on the Tees.

"This is just the boost we have all been waiting for and I am really pleased for the highly skilled engineers and welders who will have the opportunity to practise their skills once again."

Shee said: "This decision by Swan Hunter will make a real difference to many families on Teesside. It is great news and should be celebrated."

Swan Hunter has been linked with a move for the troubled Cammell Laird operations on the Tyne and the Tees.

Receivers PriceWaterhouseCoopers were brought in to run the business in April this year.

Cammell Laird's future was plunged into doubt when Cruise Line Costa Grociere cancelled a £50m upgrade on one of its liners at the firm's Merseyside yard, despite the company having already carried out £40m of work on a new mid section for the liner.

However, Mr Kroese has hinted that he would only be interested only in the Hebburn yard.