Imperium faces new setback with loss of major contract

It's been a tough year or so for Imperium Renewable. Imperium, the force behind one of America's largest biodiesel plants, is a Seattle-area company that was hit with a lawsuit from a former employee this spring. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer details the many other problems facing Imperium: a cancelled IPO, layoffs executives leaving. The latest dark spot comes from the sunny tropics (sort of), because cruise giant Royal Caribbean Cruises has canceled a ginormous biodiesel contract with Imperium. The early end of the 18-million-gallon-a-year contract (which was supposed to run through 2011) is "raising questions about the future of the $78 million facility," the Seattle PI writes, refering to the big 100mgpy plant in Grays Harbor County, Washington. The two companies aren't talking about why the contract was canceled, but I'm guessing that the sluggish economy is dampening people's enthusiasm for expensive cruises these days, and Royal Caribbean just plain needs less fuel. Could have something to do with it, right?
[Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]