COVINGTON, La. (AP) — Arcosa Marine Products is closing its Louisiana shipyard, which will mean its remaining 100 workers will soon be out of work.

Arcosa Marine Products is a subsidiary of Dallas-based Arcosa, which already laid off 66 workers at the shipyard in Madisonville several months ago, The Times Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

The newest round of layoffs is expected to begin in May and continue through September, according to a letter sent to the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Account managers, process operators, welders, mechanics, pipe fitters and the plant manager are expected to be among those laid off.

The shipyard once employed 300 people, building barges used to ferry products up and down the Mississippi Rover and other waterways. Arcosa had spent $7.5 million to reopen the idled barge manufacturing facility in 2019 and promised to create 149 jobs, the news site reported.

Arcosa told investors that its barge business was significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The company projected it would only generate $35 million in adjusted profits, down from $78 million in 2020.

“Liquid barge demand remains depressed by reduced demand for refined products and petrochemicals, which began declining during the COVID pandemic and has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels,” according to a news release. “We are optimistic about a recovery, but that is unlikely to occur in time for 2021 production.”

The company also reduced capacity in all of its shipyards, which included those in Missouri and Tennessee.

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