Christensen Shipyards is reportedly experiencing financial difficulties. Some employees state they were instructed not to come to work yesterday. When others arrived, they found the gates to the Washington State facility were closed.
Christensen Shipyards’ in-house project manager for Missing Link, the megayacht launched last week, was among those who received an email on February 9 informing them to not come in. In an interview with The Columbian newspaper, he expressed surprise at the message. He also mentioned that there had been some financial difficulties in recent weeks. “What transpired in the last few days, I’m not sure,” he says, in a video interview posted on YouTube.
Some staff completing Missing Link are apparently being granted access. A reporter for the newspaper saw activity at the dock yesterday.
We reached out to Christensen Shipyards yesterday to request commentary but have not received a reply as of this writing.
The Columbian also states that it obtained a letter dated February 3 from the yard to employees, indicating some benefits would be eliminated or reduced. That follows a formal announcement in early December that an ownership restructuring was taking place. Details of the latter have not been revealed.
The Columbian further reports that this is the second time since December that Christensen Shipyards has closed its gates. Back then, the gates were locked for a week. The newspaper has additionally obtained copies of claims filed by creditors in December and January. One such creditor is Alexander Marine, the company behind Ocean Alexander motoryachts. Ocean Alexander and Christensen Shipyards teamed up to build the Ocean Alexander 120. Alexander Marine cites OA-1002 and OA-1003, two 120s in build at Christensen Shipyards, as collateral.
We’ll update this story accordingly as information becomes available.
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