An investment program worth 1.35 billion euros for the Elefsina and Syros shipywards was presented by ONEX Shipyards & Technologies Group, which called it the largest shipbuilding and defense investment plan announced in Greece in recent decades.

“Project Trident” aims at transforming the Group’s Elefsina and Syros shipyards into a unified shipbuilding hub and a modern, vertically integrated center for the construction, maintenance, and support of defense and commercial vessels – becoming the largest one in southeastern Europe.

The project has three phases: a) strengthening the capabilities of maintenance, repair, and technical support (MRO) of ships through the development of Suezmax-size reservoirs that could service the US Sixth Fleet and allied navy powers (cost: 150 mln euros); b) full upgrade of port infrastructure, development of double-use terminal stations, and the creation of a strategic supply chain/logistics (cost: 200 million euros); and c) the introduction of robotic assembly lines, instalment of state-of-the-art equipment, and the development of specialized facilities to build submarines (cost: 1 billion euros).

In the context of Project Trident, ONEX announced it had signed an agreement of strategic alliance with the South Korean HANWHA Ocean on May 29, during an event held at the official residence of US Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Ann Guilfoyle, in the presence of South Korean Ambassador to Greece Ju-seong Lim and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Theoharis. ONEX noted that the cooperation was part of a trilateral cooperation including the United States.

ONEX estimated that the plan could create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs for specialized personnel within the next 5 to 7 years, and it claimed that its contribution to the Greek economy could add as much ast 0.8 percentage points to Greek GDP on annual basis, while the total tax and other revenues for the Greek state could amount to more than 2.5 billion euros over a 15-year period.