Skaramangas Shipyards S.A., formerly Hellenic Shipyards S.A., is a large

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

in Skaramagas, in West Athens regional unit, Greece founded in 1937 as a warship building company.

History

Commonly known as "Skaramanga Shipyards" (Greek: Ναυπηγεία Σκαραμαγκά), from the area where they are located, its origins are connected with the Royal Hellenic Naval Shipyard created in 1937 in order to build warships. Despite heavy investment and an order of 12 destroyers and a number of submarines (of which 2 destroyers were in initial stages of construction), development ceased due to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

while in 1944 the facilities were virtually destroyed by Allied bombing. Operation started in 1957 when Greek business tycoon

Stavros Niarchos Stavros Spyrou Niarchos (, ; 3 July 1909 – 15 April 1996) was a Greek billionaire shipping tycoon. Starting in 1952, he had the world's biggest supertankers built for his fleet. Propelled by both the Suez Crisis and increasing demand for oil, ...

purchased the ruined shipyard and rebuilt and expanded its facilities; since then the company has built many civilian and military ships. Military constructions include Greek-designed fast patrol boats and gunboats, as well as frigates, fast attack crafts, submarines, etc. based on French or German designs. A company division is involved in metal and machinery constructions, including specialized constructions for the Greek industry, structures and platforms for

offshore drilling Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the ter ...

, cranes, etc. A special branch has also been created since 1986, for the mass production of various types of

railcar A railcar (not to be confused with the generic term railroad car or railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coa ...

s (diesel and electric) and railroad cars (passenger and freight), mostly on German designs. The company was bought in 2002 by a group of German investors under the industrial leadership of the German shipyard

Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. It is part of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) group, owned by ThyssenKrupp. The Howaldtswerke shipyard was founded in Kiel i ...

(HDW), later a subsidiary of the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems. However, serious yard mismanagement by the German TKMS group has caused a decline of the shipyard, and reduction of employees to 1,300 in 2009 (from about 6,200 in 1975). On March 1, 2010, an agreement was reached to sell 75.1% of the company to Abu Dhabi Mar. On April 12, 2023, transfer of 100% of the company to Milina Enterprises Company Limited, owned by George Prokopiou, was completed.

Ships built by Skaramangas Shipyards

Several ship types, commercial (general cargo, bulk carriers, tankers, tugboats, super yachts, ferries and other passenger ships) and military, among which: * La Combattante IIIb-class fast attack craft * HSY-55-class gunboat * Osprey HSY-56A-class gunboat * Meko-200HN (built under license by parent company HDW) *

Type 214 submarine The Type 214 is a class of diesel–electric powertrain, diesel–electric submarines developed exclusively for export by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independen ...

s (built under license by parent company HDW)

Ships repaired at Skaramangas Shipyards

Thousands of ships, among which: *''HS Tombazis (D-215) - repaired between November 1978 and May 1979 *''Brittany'' (ex-'' Bretagne''), a Chandris Lines cruise ship that was accidentally destroyed by fire in April 1963 as repairs neared completion

References

External links

*
Hellenic Shipyards ''Atlantis'' Superyacht, in World's 100 largest superyachtsA very large gallery of photographs and documents of the shipyard
{{Authority control Shipbuilding companies of Greece Locomotive manufacturers of Greece West Athens (regional unit) Greek brands Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1957 Defence companies of Greece Greek companies established in 1957 Greek companies established in 1937 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1937