The heavy industry of the country is reborn from its rust and with investments of hundreds of millions of euros it declares itself “present” for the transition to the new era and the construction of warships. That is, as was done for decades on behalf of the Navy.
By Christos Mazanitis
3 of the 4 HYDRA-class MEKO frigates of the Navy have been built in Greece, by Greek hands. The same with the PAPANIKOLIS submarines.
The largest ship in displacement of the PN, the General Support Ship PROMITHEUS has also been built in Greece, at the Elefsina shipyards, as well as the 7 ROUSSEN-class Super Vita missile launchers.
As before, the missile boats “La Combattante”, and the gunboats “ARMATOLOS”.
For the first time in decades, with the order of FDI Belharra frigates, the streak of building the first ship abroad and the rest in Greece was broken, boosting the domestic industry and especially the GDP. The misfortune is that there are voices, even within the PN, who under the pretext of fast delivery and “competitive prices” insist on the proposal to build all PN ships in shipyards abroad.
The “Greener Shipping Summit” conference, which took place last Tuesday, November 12, at the Eugenides Foundation, dispelled the myths about the weaknesses of Greek shipyards and the promotion of their real potential.
There, the Union of Hellenic Shipyards made a strong “present” showing the possibilities it has acquired in a few years, giving the stamp of healthy development, without depending on government orders.
The President of the Union of Hellenic Shipyards, Panos Xenokostas, participating in the panel on the development of the shipbuilding and repair industry in Greece, spoke about the boom of the sector and the important economic prospects it creates for the country. Speaking about the shipyards of the ONEX Group, in Syros and Elefsina, he emphasized that beyond the economic footprint in the country, the reopening of the shipyard in Syros was of decisive importance for the local community, as the unit already employs 650 workers. At the same time, at the Elefsina unit, while a series of bureaucratic procedures and upgrades are still underway, the Group has already served 125 ships within 18 months.
The contribution of the ONEX Group was a catalyst for what is today called the renaissance of the country’s shipbuilding industry and we will continue until the Industry returns to Greece and Europe, was the central message of Mr. Xenokostas’ speech. While, as he emphasized in various parts of his speech: “When we were talking in 2018 about the revival of the Syros shipyards and in 2022 about the revival of the Elefsina shipyards, no one could believe what would follow, not even the success of the project in in relation to the burden we assumed and the goal we had set.(…) I am grateful for the trust and support of the Greek shipowners, who are a source of inspiration. (…) My vision is to transform the Shipyards into hubs for the provision of a greater range of services, expanding our activities and multiplying our footprint in the coming years.
Expansion activities include, among others, the construction of tugboats and other special vessels, the construction and maintenance of ships for the Navy, the construction and operation of floating generators for offshore wind farms, but also the provision of integrated logistics solutions for the interconnection of local and small and medium-sized enterprises with the Greek interests ship-owning companies. “Thus, the Shipyards will be transformed into a technological and manufacturing hub, which will provide well-paid jobs, contributing decisively to the country’s GDP. After all, the shipyards are the interface platform of the domestic industry with shipping.
As he pointed out, the contribution of the workers to the spectacular change of the image and the progress of the Shipyards is also decisive, facing together established times, which for decades paralyzed the creative forces of the sector.
Finally, he also referred to the very important support of the Greek government, with special mention to the Greek Prime Minister, the relevant Ministries and the Minister of Development Takis Theodorikakos, the cooperation with whom is decisive for the progress of the project in the coming years, the transformation of the organization ONEX, but also of the industry more broadly, with the further creation of thousands of new jobs.
The Group’s development plan for the next five years includes investments of 250 million euros, aiming to create the appropriate conditions, so that the shipyards can annually serve up to 300 ships of up to Suezmax size, with simultaneous expansion into neighboring industrial and energy sectors.
However, it is surprising how the Navy, which has a series of programs to run, has not yet invited any of the country’s two major shipyards to submit their proposals. Neither Eleusis, nor Skaramangas.
As we have written on enikos.gr and mentioned in his recent speech to the Armaments and Defense Committee in the Parliament, the Minister of National Defense Nikos Dendias, the PN is preparing to run the upgrade of the MEKO frigates, the upgrade of the PAPANIKOLIS class submarines, the modernization of the TPC ROUSSEN and at the same time build the Constellation frigates and new submarines. In all these discussions one would expect the presence of the domestic industry and its related proposals to be felt. Proposals which should be evaluated in parallel with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Development, since it escapes the “narrow” armament framework.
And yet, so far, the Greek shipyards have not been invited to present their proposals in any of the ongoing discussions.
And this despite the fact that recently the Minister of Development, Takis Theodorikakos, visited the Elefsina shipyards together with the American Ambassador George Tsunis, from where the latter mentioned the potential of the Elefsina shipyards, as a purely American company, to build the Constellation frigates, which through the mouth of Minister Nikos Dendias, Greece has decided to choose as the new frigate of the Navy. At the same time, Mr. Theodorikakakos was presented with the possibility of building corvettes with weapons systems similar to those that Constellation will have, thus strengthening interoperability and homogeneity, which is the demand for the leadership of the Navy.
As we wrote on enikos.gr, the Union of Hellenic Shipyards (which has in its ranks the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Piraeus, and indirectly and directly EEN and EBEP represent approximately 18,100 companies and 215,000 workers) in a meeting held at the office of GDAEE on September they pointed out, how it is not possible to invite foreign companies and conclude contracts for orders abroad without examining the possibilities of the domestic industry.
The remarkable thing is that many who talk about PN programs have never visited the regenerated Greek shipyards to see, even out of curiosity, the possibilities they have.
Source: www.enikos.gr
