Hellenic Shipyards S.A. is a large

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

Skaramagas Skaramagas (also spelled Skaramangas; el, Σκαραμαγκάς) is a port town in the western part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. It is part of the municipality of Haidari. It is known for its large shipyard. It took its name by the Chio ...

, in West Athens regional unit, Greece.

History

Commonly known as Skaramaga 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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

Stavros Niarchos Stavros Spyrou Niarchos ( el, Σταύρος Σπύρου Νιάρχος, ; 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 ...

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 te ...

, 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 a 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 coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...

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 (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 in 183 ...

(HDW), later a subsidiary of the German

ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems of Germany (often abbreviated TKMS) is a group and holding company of providers of naval vessels, surface ships and submarines. It was founded when large industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp acquired Howaldtswerke-Deuts ...

. 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.

Privatisation

Greece's finance ministry had launched an international tender for the privatisation of the largest eastern Mediterranean shipyard "Skaramanga shipyard".

Ships built by Hellenic 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 The La Combattante IIIA type missile boats of the Hellenic Navy are a class of four fast attack craft ordered by Greece in September 1974 from France. The vessels had no class name but are referred to by type. They are similar to the La Combattant ...

* 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 diesel-electric submarine developed by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW). It features diesel propulsion with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system using Siemens polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) hydrogen fuel cell ...

s (built under license by parent company HDW)

Ships repaired at Hellenic 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