Skaramangas Shipyards sets LNG carrier repair business goal

Miltiadis Varvitsiotis, CEO of the Skaramangas Shipyards presenting the vision of shipowner/investor George Procopiou the new owner of the historic shipyard.

"Skaramangas Shipyards was, is and will be one of Greece's largest industrial infrastructures and a vital asset for national defense," said, Varvitsiotis an ex-Shipping Minister. 

"The goal and challenge for Skaramangas Shipyards is to be able to repair LNG carriers, being the only shipyard in Greece and one of the few in Europe that will serve these ships.

Reporting on other business of the revived shipyard, he said, "Mega yachts are another pillar of focus of Skaramangas Shipyards, as well as ship construction and repair for vessels of the Hellenic Navy and the Hellenic Coast Guard. An equally important goal is to disseminate new knowledge and provide continuous training to shipyard employees." 

Varvitsiotis declared that the Greek shipbuilding industry is in a phase of revival after the investments of fellow panelist Panos Xenokostas, President and CEO of ONEX Shipyards & Technologies Group and Procopiou.

Bringing the shipbuilding and ship repairing industry back to Greece and Europe was the main message delivered by Xenokostas who reported on how the revival of the Syros island and Elefsina’s Elefsis Shipyards was achieved. He underlined the impact of the reopening of Syros’ Neorion shipyard on the local economy of Syros as it currently employs 650 workers. In Elefsis, he said full ownership of the shipyard is still pending, but it has already served 120 ships in 18 months.  

According to Xenokostas, the two shipyards have the capacity to serve over 200 vessels up to Aframax size per year. Onex's five-year plan includes investment of EUR250 million to increase the capacity of the shipyards' tanks in order to serve up to 300 ships per year up to Suezmax size. 

Xenokostas said the vision is to turn the shipyards into hubs providing a wider range of services. He reiterated the need to revive the industry in Greece and Europe but also the need to develop legislation and regulatory frameworks in order to limit unfair competition from Asian shipyards.