A landmark agreement between the Greek shipyard ONEX Elefsis Shipyards and Bureau Veritas Hellas M.A.E was sealed for the construction of 20 new tugboats. The deal signals the revival of Greece’s domestic shipbuilding sector and marks a significant milestone in restarting ship construction within the country.
The agreement already signed with Bureau Veritas concerns the construction of 20 new RAstar 2800 tugboats at the Elefsis shipyards, marking the official restart of new building activity in Greece.
It was signed by ONEX Group president and CEO Panos Xenokostas, who is also president of the Association of Hellenic Shipyards, and the senior vice president BV M&O Division, East Europe, Mediterranean Sea, Middle East, Africa and India (EMA) of Bureau Veritas, Paillette Palaiologou.
“The revival of shipyards is not a matter of one or two people. It is a game that we must play as a team to win. I warmly thank the Greek shipowners, the government and our partners. Our vision for a strong Greek shipbuilding industry is becoming a reality today,” emphasized Panos Xenokostas.
Xenokostas underlined that since 2018 there has been a vision of a new era for the Greek shipbuilding industry, which today translates into thousands of jobs and hundreds of ship repairs.
Referring to the tugboats, he explained that they were the ideal first step, with modern design and international collaborations of leading companies.
Then Palaiologou emphasized Bureau Veritas’ deep connection with Greek shipping, characterizing the project as of strategic importance for shipyards, Greece and the global tugboat industry, where the organization holds 27% of the market.
Finally, Paillette Palaiologou referred to the advanced technical characteristics of the tugboats and reiterated the commitment of Bureau Veritas to support the Greek shipbuilding industry.
Photo credit: ONEX Elefsis Shipyards
The ONEX Group president and CEO participated recently in the 1st Conference of the Hellenic Union of Tugboat, Salvage, Anti-Pollution, and Offshore Support Vessel Owners at the Stone Warehouse of PPA (Piraeus Port Authority).
Referring to the scheduled production of 20 RAstar 2800 Escort/Terminal Tugboats, Panos Xenokostas explained: “We did not randomly choose to start with tugboats.
“On the one hand, the Presidential Decree of 2023 and the support of the competent Ministry for new shipbuilding projects that will upgrade port infrastructure, and on the other hand the controlled risk associated with tugboats, gave us the opportunity to start in the newbuild sector and safely create a model that is now moving forward and is very practical: We have the exclusive agreement with Robert Allan Ltd for design in Greece and Cyprus; we have already agreed and made down payments for the first 20 sets of top-tier engines from MAN Energy Solutions SE, and likewise for the first 20 sets of azimuth thrusters (Z-thrusters) under our agreement with the leading company SCHOTTEL GmbH, thus creating a powerful, top-quality, and reliable propulsion system.”
Completing the design phase, the first tugboat steel cutting will take place in November 2025, and the construction time of the first tugboat will be less than 12 months, with each subsequent tugboat delivered at two-month intervals.
