Harlan & Wolff has drawn up a schedule for redundancies beginning next May, which would ultimately result in the closure of the shipyard, if new orders cannot be secured.

The east Belfast shipyard, which is owned by the Norwegian group, Olsen Energy, has told trade union leaders that its workforce of 457 people will be made redundant by January 2003 unless its current financial position is transformed.

Three months ago Harland & Wolff warned trade union leaders in the North that it urgently needed to secure new orders or its "operational existence" would be under threat. No orders have materialised and the shipyard has now published a schedule for proposed job losses, which stipulates that redundancies will take effect from next May.

Mr Jackie Nicholl, president of the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Union, said the workforce is "disappointed and angry" about the schedule for redundancies.

Mr Nicholl said shipyard management had also warned workers that a crucial Ministry of Defence contract currently going through the yard, could be jeopardised unless they improved productivity rates.

He believes Olsen Energy has no long-term interest in building ships at Harland & Wolff, a claim that has been vigorously denied by the company. "There were almost 1,000 job losses at the shipyard last year - what message is Olsen Energy trying to tell us," Mr Nicholl said.