Incat scraps Boyer mill site for expansion and buys cherry farm but needs government help

Incat announced plans last year for a new manufacturing plant at the Boyer mill. Why they’ve changed their plan.

Concept design of new Incat production facility at Boyer paper mill site near New Norfolk. Picture: Incat

Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat has scrapped plans to build a new $50m manufacturing facility at the Boyer paper mill – which would double its workforce – instead buying a cherry farm opposite on the Derwent River for the factory.

The pioneer shipbuilder is seeking financial help from whoever wins the May 3 election to fund the facility, a key part of its expansion plan.

It says funding is vital if Incat is to remain competitive with other countries as it aims to be the only shipbuilder in the world to produce four large battery-electric aluminium ships a year.

In a major announcement last year, Incat revealed it had acquired part of the Boyer site for its expansion.

Incat 70M Electric High Speed Ro-Pax Ferry design. Picture: Incat

However, developer David Marriner, who officially takes ownership of the Norske Skog paper mill on Tuesday, said there had been no contract or legal agreement.

“We made ourselves available for discussions but we were not involved. We welcome they have other options now,” he said.

Incat founder Robert Clifford said the long-term vision was to still to develop an additional state-of-the-art production facility “that enables us to build the world’s most advanced sustainable vessels at scale”.

“We continue to assess alternative sites and our expansion plans will move forward as intended – just at a different location,” he said.

Robert Clifford, AO, inside Incat's electric ship at Derwent Park. Picture: Caroline Tan

Incat CEO Stephen Casey said Incat had purchased a cherry farm on the other side of the Derwent River which was a “win-win” for the Derwent Valley.

“We’ve got a long settlement because we do need to do some due diligence because while the land is probably better for us in terms of building a shipyard, the difficulty is that we’ll need to change the planning scheme and the zoning,” he said.

“Our production model is that we build the hull of the vessel and its decks, at the new site in the Derwent Valley and then we tow that through the bridges and move it down to Prince of Wales Bay where we then finish the vessel off.

“So when it comes down the river it’s very, very light so it can handle the shallow depths.

“There’s no engine, there’s no machinery, there is no fit out. There’s probably another 12 months’ worth of work to finish the vessel off at Prince of Wales Bay at our existing facilities.”

Incat counting down to the launch of Hull 096 the world's largest electric ship on May 2nd. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Both Labor and the Opposition are being asked to contribute financially but Incat has not revealed publicly how much it is seeking.

Mr Casey said it was hard to compete with “the rest of the world”.

“China and Asia are already low-cost-based and then Europe have a number of subsidies that their shipbuilders can operate under.

“It’s hard for us to compete on price, but Incat is renowned for its quality.”

Incat employs about 450 people and wants that to increase to 1000.

Derwent Valley mayor Michelle Dracoulis supports Incat’s expansion and “the jobs that it will bring” but said it would have to comply with planning regulations.

Originally published as Incat scraps Boyer mill site for expansion and buys cherry farm but needs government help