Work at the Greater Gabbard windfarm off the Suffolk coast: fuelling potential for boatbuilders
Boatbuilding boom is in the wind for East Anglian firms
By Stephen Pullinger
Monday, January 23, 2012
6:30 AM
The potential goldmine represented by the growth in offshore windfarms is to be flagged up to the region’s boatbuilding firms at a breakfast briefing.
Industry leaders will be told at the meeting at Great Yarmouth racecourse on Wednesday that as the Crown Estate’s third round of windfarms start to be built, including the 3,000-turbine East Anglian Array off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, hundreds of new boats will be needed to service them.
Speakers at the briefing, organised by the industry focused body Marine East, will also impress on company bosses how engineering skills in boatbuilding can be transferred into wind turbine maintenance.
Ahead of the meeting, Marine East director David Martin said: “The East of England is at the heart of the UK economy’s shift to low carbon energy sources, a shift that is forecast to create a low carbon industry worth £75bn and supporting up to 70,000 jobs nationally by 2020.”
Marine East chairman Alan Goodchild, the boss of Goodchild Marine at Burgh Castle, near Yarmouth, said: “Even ahead of the new generation of super windfarms, building windfarm boats already represents 20pc of our turnover.”
He said his company was in the middle of a multi-million pound contract to fit out 12 support vessels, with another locally based firm, Alicat Workboats - part of the Gardline Group - supplying the aluminium hulls.
“Demand for boats at the moment is enormous. We are already looking at designs for bigger 26-metre vessels,” he said.
“This is the ideal time for boatbuilders to market themselves, and it is not just about new builds; when the boats are out there they will require maintenance.”
Fellow Marine East director Gary Williams, highlighted how his Yarmouth-based firm, E-tech, was currently doing the electrical work on more than 30 new windfarm boats.
Highlighting the “huge potential for jobs”, he said his firm had already taken on 20 extra staff to cope with the demand.
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17 comments
So Tom, are you saying that all those engineers you believe will be employed will have several boats each? Perhaps it is to help catch all those pigs flying overhead?
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andy
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Yarmouth was indeed once a boom town and the Aberdeen of the East-a port full of supply and survey boats, pipe yards, offices, Texans and Alabamans as far as the eye could see-money and jobs and skills. Of course when it all went bottom up and took a bunch of companies with it , many of the people with skills scattered all over the world-except for companies like Gardline and all credit to them. No reason why local people can't learn the skills needed given time and a chance. Does seem rather a lot of boats for unmanned installations though.
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Daisy Roots
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Mr Smythe is right about jobs going to every Nationality except Britsh. The towers are shipped from Belgium on Dutch barges towed by Dutch or German tugs. The support boats are crewed by all sorts of nationalities and all the installation barges are similarly crewed. Windfarms will certainly never provide as many jobs as oil rigs!
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Mike Smith
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Who the hell is "Marine East" ?
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"V"
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
I know one of those engineers. Their new facility at Egmere will employ nearer 100 than 50 and certainly more than 10. Plus the indirect employment. Knock it all you like, but this industry will create jobs locally.
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Tom Jeffries
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tom Jeffries, you made that up about the 100 service jobs up. I've just trawled through their web page. It's reads 50 jobs could be permanent, knowing how Siemens operate I''ll say more like between 5 to 10, after more trawling and translating of their web pages.One thing that is for sure...it ain't gonna be thousands.
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nrg
Monday, January 23, 2012
Who said anything about who owns the company? It is still 100+ jobs in wells. I would rather they were there than Grimsby, or Hull.
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Tom Jeffries
Monday, January 23, 2012
"Scira Offshore Energy is 45% owned by Dutch company Evelop and 55% owned by StatoilHydro, the international energy company." - Sorry who did you say is making all the money from this venture?
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Farquarson-Smythe
Monday, January 23, 2012
Interesting to note what is happening at Wells. It is Scira's base for the Sheringham Shoal. Over 100 permanent jobs servicing the 90 odd turbines for the next 25 years, plus quite a lot more at restaurants, pubs, B&Bs etc. On that basis Gt Yarmouth ought to reasonably expect to get at least 10 times that.
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Tom Jeffries
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sadly some people believe this sort of drivel.Lowestoft and Yarmouth are full of DHSS layabouts and ever more will be so.A few windmills that hardly ever go round will not make a jot of difference to either.
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kevin bacon
Monday, January 23, 2012
I wonder if either of my last two posts will make it?
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andy
Monday, January 23, 2012
Does anyone believe this hype? It is just not credible. Hundreds of boats and thousands of jobs. Right!
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andy
Monday, January 23, 2012
Yippee!! It's trotted out again, thousands of jobs....get in there!!!!
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nrg
Monday, January 23, 2012
This hype about the benefits of wind power continues to get ever more ridiculous. Does anyone really believe that 3,000 wind turbines requires hundreds of boats? Doing what precisely? This is as credible as it is supposed to create tens of thousands of new jobs! They will be telling us the extra cost of wind power generated electricity is good for us next!
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andy
Monday, January 23, 2012
Your right Port Watcher. According to our marvellous MP, on Radio Norfolk on Friday, he classed Yarmouth as the "Aberdeen of the East". After laughter from the presenter he was forced to backtrack and say "Yarmouth must aspire to be the Aberdeen of the East". The ex barrowboy hasn't got a clue, mind you, nor have the councillors.
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"V"
Monday, January 23, 2012
Yes, Great Yarmouth is really booming, yet another story from the town about plenty of work being available there. There is so much work in the town, the place is awash with unfilled jobs, there must be full employent in the town by now.
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Port Watcher
Monday, January 23, 2012
If there were "100's of Boats" required which I doubt, they would buy them from the Dutch like the rest of the equipment, boats and men out there.
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Farquarson-Smythe
Monday, January 23, 2012