Bender Shipbuilding Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

BREAKING NEWS

Bender Shipbuilding, which has been in Mobile for 91 years, is filing for bankruptcy protection.

In a news release sent to News 5, the company said it had hoped to avoid bankruptcy, but realized doing so was "in the best interest of its customers, creditors and vendors."

On June 10, three companies filed a petition asking a judge to force Bender to file involuntary bankruptcy. Then on Monday, a bankruptcy judge denied Bender's request to prevent another client from collecting on a $5 million letter of credit which was issued by Regions Bank.

"I regret very much the impact this decision has on our employees and vendors and the community", said Tom Bender, the company's President and CEO. "But the involuntary petition gave us no choice."

Bender says it will continue to operate as a full service shipyard. It will have to layoff workers as part of the company's reorganization. News 5 has a call into a company spokesperson to find out how many jobs will be cut.

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