A major Swedish boatbuilder is the latest victim of the economic downturn. Najad Yachts, and parent company Nord West Yachts have gone bankrupt with the loss of 150 jobs.

As the yard – 50 kilometres north of Gothenburg – ran into financial difficulty it had been visited by officials armed with seizure notices to place upon unpaid for equipment.

The Navimo Group, Europe’s largest marine equipment distributor and manufacturer, was placed under temporary receivership last year.

A leading industry source told YM: ‘It’s bad news for the whole industry, but many were puzzled by Najad’s behaviour – they were attending Boat Shows right up until the last minute and everyone was asking how could they afford it? If they were going to re-structure then they should have started that back in the autumn because by doing it now – if indeed that’s the plan – will mean it will take six months and that will miss them a whole season.’

At least one UK customer has a yacht in build at the yard, but under Swedish law the yacht must be finished and offered to the customer.

A spokeswoman for the Nord West board confirmed to YM that the yard had gone bankrupt yesterday.

Last year Malo Yachts of Sweden underwent ‘reconstruction’, renegotiating a deal with their suppliers in a desperate bid to survive the economic downturn.