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Post by ferryfast admin on Nov 25, 2007 10:30:15 GMT -5
Last updated November 20, 2007 10:37 a.m. PT
Nichols Brothers Boat Builders files for bankruptcy protection
Seattle PI seattlepi.nwsource.com/
SEATTLE -- Nichols Brothers Boat Builders Inc., which makes passenger ferries, tugboats and other work boats, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
The Whidbey Island boat maker said it was not able to borrow money to keep the business running after being sued by one of its largest creditors, Louisiana-based Hornbeck Offshore Services LLC, last year.
Nichols Bros. owes Hornbeck $20 million, according to papers filed over the last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Seattle. In total, Nichols Bros. said it owes creditors $42.9 million, and currently holds assets of $3.4 million.
Privately held Nichols Bros., based in Freeland, Wash., about 30 miles northwest of Seattle, said revenue totaled $6.9 million in 2007, compared with $23.7 million in 2006.
The company employed as many as 250 people in recent years, according to court documents, but on Nov. 2 it reduced its head count to 20. President Brian Nichols said in a filing that the company would lay off 10 more workers by Dec. 1.
Nichols Bros. said it hoped to negotiate deals to keep subcontractors working on seven ongoing projects, including a ferry for the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority, according to the company's Web site.
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