Jeffboat Inc. of Jefferson, Ind., will close the largest U.S. inland shipyard by mid-May, eliminating 225 jobs and closing the last major yard on the Ohio River. The shipyard is unlikely to be reopened for three to five years, company President Robert Greene said. Jeffboat, a subsidiary of American Commercial Barge Lines, has fought a four-year depression in the shipbuilding industry. Employment has dropped from a peak of 2,200 in 1981. Greene said the company lost money in the last two years and a survey of potential contacts showed there was too little prospective business to justify continuing operations. About 10 percent of Jefferson`s 175 hourly workers and 50 salaried workers may be transferred to jobs at American Commercial Barge Lines or other companies owned by its parent firm, CXS Corp. of Richmond, Va.
