In-depth | SHIP-AND BOATYARDS FEATURE THEME Getting better connected
UK-based Alicat Workboats intends to tighten its grip on the lucrative European offshore wind farm support vessel production market, having incorporated a ‘one-stop shop’ approach to boatbuilding, fabrication, electronics, repair and maintenance
construction market, Alicat Workboats may well have good cause to be optimistic. A round of acquisitions and company restructuring, conducted over the past three years, has seen Alicat, a subsidiary of charterer / operator the Gardline Group, expand its range of marine services and activities, subsequently breathing fresh life into its Great Yarmouth, UK yard. Originally overseen by Richards Dry
C
Dock and Engineering Limited, the facility was initially the key supplier for the local area’s once thriving industry, specialising in the manufacture of herring boats. As that particular industry began to decline, the yard’s attention switched to handling offshore oil and gas vessel repairs. It was not until 2008, when Alicat moved onto the premises, via Gardline’s ownership, that boatbuilding began again in earnest, with the first of Alicat’s offshore wind farm support vessels leaving the blocks in June 2009. Te yard, which provides access to approximately 200m of quayside, now directly employs approximately 150 persons. Since then, the yard has built 14 offshore
wind farm crew transfer vessels to date, and has plenty more on order at time of writing, a situation that prompts Nigel Darling, managing director, Alicat, to comment:
laiming to currently enjoy a 60% share of the European offshore wind farm support
vessel As David Blake, Alicat director
The 200tonne WISE hoist, introduced to Alicat’s Great Yarmouth facility in April this year, will enable yard personnel to handle vessels with beams of up to 11m
“We’re well placed in Great Yarmouth to serve the offshore wind farm support sector – this segment could come to mean as much to the local area as did the herring industry, years ago.” In addition to boatbuilding, however,
Alicat intends to utilise the facility to its fullest extent, particularly in the fields of repair and maintenance, modification jobs and diagnostic engine testing.
New formation Te reshuffles of the past 24 months have included the formation of Alicat Marine Electrical, a 25-strong team formed from the remnants of a local electrical firm that Alicat had worked with closely in the 2000s, before it went into administration.
TECHNICAL PARTICULARS Alicat WFSV crew transfer vessels
12m Displacement
Free workdeck area Deck cargo
Fuel oil capacity Top speed
Anchor equipment
18tonnes 40m²
1tonne
1,800litres 27knots
1 x 30kg Bruce + capstan
20 17m
35tonnes 56m²
5tonnes
6,000litres 27knots
1 x40kg Bruce 19m
45tonnes 80m²
5tonnes
8,500litres 30knots
1 x 80kg Bruce + AAW-100 Winch + AAW-100 Winch
for business management, puts it: “We received so many CVs from the firm when it ran into trouble, and we had always enjoyed a good working relationship with these people, that it seemed a waste not to incorporate them into what we were doing here.” Alicat Marine Electrical now supplies all switchboards, 24V DC generators and onboard electronics to Alicat-built boats, as well as having the autonomy to tender for electronics installation contracts outside of the main group. For now, given Alicat’s range of vessel sizes, 24V DC is more than adequate to provide the vessels’ onboard power needs, though a shiſt to longer, larger offshore wind farm support craſt would most likely necessitate the provision of AC generators. Additionally, Blake serves as business
managing director for East Coast Diesel, which also has established a presence at the Great Yarmouth facility, specialising in diesel engine repairs and dyno testing, for fine-tuning and fault diagnosis. At present, the on-site East Coast Diesel dynamic test bed is capable of handling engines rated up to 745kW, though, by the end of 2013, a new installation will enable testing of engines rated up to 1,500kW. Added to the above centralisation
of its assets, Alicat acquired Isle of Wight-based South Boats in October last year, capitalising on the demand for high quality offshore wind farm support vessels, upon which South Boats has made its reputation (see Ship & Boat International March/April 2013, pp34-35), and adding 70 people to the new entity. However, Alicat does not wish to focus
solely on these craſt types; Ben Colman, sales and marketing manager for Alicat, comments: “We’re in a position to to take on patrol vessel and offshore vessel contracts.” Additional offshore wind farm crew transfer expertise is garnered by the
Ship & Boat International May/June 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90