The market is rife with rumours thatmanagement intends to close Avondale and lay-off nearly all of its workers byyear-end after determining it would be too costly to keep the facility runningwhile making the upgrades needed to build the types of vessels that are in highdemand.
One well-placed market source claims thedecision follows a feasibility study that found it could take 12 months toreactivate the yard’s commercial shipbuilding capabilities, an estimate that suggestsHII would stand to lose as much as $50m while waiting for keel-laying tocommence.
While
