Indiana-based builder Jeffboat has signalled 278 job losses as demand slows in the American inland barge sector.
A letter submitted by the company to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development outlined that about half of its Jeffersonville workforce – mostly welders and fitters – would be made redundant in the first quarter of 2018.
"This action is in response to a decrease in the demand for the vessels that Jeffboat manufactures at the facility," wrote Jeffboat general counsel Dawn R Landry.
"While we do not currently plan to close the facility, we expect the separations will be permanent."
America's largest inland shipyard on 32.3 hectares along the Ohio River, Jeffboat builds barges, towboats and offshore equipment, and repairs vessels.
The Courier-Journal reported Jeffboat had already reduced its workforce from 800 in December 2016 to 600.
