Shipbuilder closes, cites financial, legal problems

FREELAND, Island County — A shipbuilder that is one of Whidbey Island's largest private employers, and one of three shipyards under contract to help build new vessels for Washington State Ferries, has closed its doors and laid off 250 workers, citing financial problems and a pending lawsuit.

Nichols Bros. Boat Builders, with facilities in Freeland and Langley, had operated on Whidbey Island since 1964.

"NBBBI has faced significant financial challenges in recent years and has sought additional capital to assist in restructuring the company," officials said in a news release. "Those efforts have been unsuccessful, due in part to pending litigation and cash-flow challenges ultimately forced NBBBI to make the difficult decision to close its doors."

Company Chief Executive Matt Nichols declined comment about closing the business he's led since 1972.

Marta Coursey, spokeswoman with Washington State Ferries, said she didn't know whether the closing would affect the agreement between Nichols, Todd Pacific Shipyards and J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding to build new vessels for the state ferry system.

She referred the question to Todd Shipyards, since, she said, Nichols is a subcontractor to Todd Shipyards in the agreement.

"These are not our negotiations," Coursey said. "They're discussions between the three shipyards only."

Stephen Welch, CEO of Todd Pacific Shipyards, referred calls to the Nichols Brothers. Attempts to reach Nichols Brothers on Saturday were unsuccessful.

Nichols specialized in building ferries for communities and private companies and won a Navy contract to build an experimental high-speed vessel.

The shipbuilder in July joined in a partnership brokered by Gov. Christine Gregoire to share the work in a $348 million contract building four new state ferry vessels.

Earlier this year, Florida-based Expoships filed a breach-of-contract complaint against Nichols Brothers for allegedly failing to deliver a 600-passenger sailing vessel on time, according to court documents.

Federal court records also show a multimillion-dollar lawsuit from a Florida firm, Hornbeck Offshore Services, alleging that Nichols Brothers failed to meet deadlines in a contract to build one boat for $12 million and another for $13 million.

Seattle Times reporter Janet Tu contributed to this report.