THE Belfast shipyard Harland & Wolff has laid off 30 of the 100 workers in its ship repair division because of a fall off in business. A company spokesman, explaining the reduction, said that in all divisions of the company labour requirements are dictated by market conditions and workload.

As a result of a reorganisation he said, it has been necessary to adjust employee numbers.

Last month Harland & Wolff's chief executive, Mr Per Nielsen, said that in future the yard would be competing increasingly in the growing offshore oil and gas markets and that 1996 would mark "a transitional period".

He said that overcapacity in the world shipbuilding industry, and the consequent low Prices for standard ships, meant that the Suezmax oil tanker currently under construction at the yard was likely to be the last conventional vessel to be built there for some time.

Mr Nielsen said that greater flexibility would be required to cope with the peaks and troughs of production.