Alicat Workboats was established in May 2009 in response to demand for suitable vessels to provide access for operation and maintenance support for the rapidly growing offshore wind sector. Scroby Sands offshore wind farm, located just off the Great Yarmouth coast, was one of the first UK offshore wind farm sites to be developed and started operating in 2004. Since then the region has seen the development of more projects including Lynn and Inner Dowsing, Greater Gabbard, Gunfleet Sands, Sheringham Shoal, Thanet and the London Array.
The first Alicat was launched at the Sea Work workboat event in Southampton in July 2010 and has been working on the Walney offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea since. Alicat's third workboat, Gardian 3, will also be working on the Walney site. Four charters to Visser Smit are already in place and the vessel is proving such a success with the industry that the company will be expanding in order to increase its capacity and reply to growing demands. The company will be expanding in order to increase its capacity and reply to growing demands.
Alicat Workboats is a subsidiary of Richards Dry Dock and Engineering Limited (RDDE) which owns and operates the well established dry dock and ship construction and repair yard in Great Yarmouth. The seven acre yard has 184m of river frontage with direct access to the North Sea. It has two building berths and a dry dock along with all the facilities required by a modern ship yard. A range of facilities is available on-site including joinery, shipwrights, engineering, machine, and electrical workshops, as well as stores, messing, and lay down areas of 6,500m2.
The yard has an 85m x 13m wide dry dock with a 4.4m draft. Since May 2010, RDDE has a new repair facility available. The berth has a total length of 35m (25m undercover), 9m width and a draft of up to 2m.
RDDE was acquired by the Gardline Group in 1995. The Gardline Group was established by George Darling in 1969 and is still owned by the Darling family.
The Alicat Workboat is built by locally employed skilled craftsmen. RDDE has been involved in ship building and repair work for over thirty years and employs teams of carpenters, painters and electricians as well as a team of aluminium fabricators and welders.