With particular success, the 1st Conference of the Hellenic Association of Tugboat, Salvage, Anti-Pollution, and Offshore Support Vessel Owners was held yesterday at the Stone Warehouse of OLP in Piraeus. The conference, titled "Safety and Development in the Greek Seas," opened a new dialog on the prospects of a highly specialized but strategically important sector of Greek shipping.
Panos Xenokostas, President and CEO of the ONEX Shipyards & Technologies Group and President of the Union of Greek Shipyards, participated in the opening session of the Conference on the topic "The role of tugboats in today's port challenges." With him were Messrs. Pavlos Xiradakis, President of the Union, Thanos Liangos, former President of ELIME and Georgios Kamilos, Pilot of Piraeus, Captain of the First Class of the Merchant Navy. Mr. Xenokostas presented the vision and initiatives of the ONEX Group for the revival of the Greek shipbuilding industry, with the spearhead being the tugboat sector.
As he emphasized, ONEX has strategically invested in the revival of the Syros and Elefsina Shipyards, transforming them from inactive facilities into modern centers for ship repair and construction. "At the ONEX Group, we envision, design, and implement." We have practically proven that we can bring to fruition and implement what we envision and announce—regardless of the adversities. Recently, we celebrated the repair of the 700th ship at our facilities, and today we have reached 720 ships. This is a significant milestone that marks not only a numerical target but also the confirmation that Greece can once again take the lead in shipbuilding and repair. If we only consider the shipbuilding and repair sector of the Group, which is approximately 125 million euros for 2024 – 2025, we are talking about an impact of around 1 billion euros on the country's GDP, hundreds of jobs saved, and thousands of new ones created," he emphasized.
If we only consider the shipbuilding and repair sector of the Group, which is approximately 125 million euros for 2024 – 2025, we are talking about an impact of around 1 billion euros on the country's GDP, hundreds of jobs saved, and thousands of new ones created," he emphasized.
Next-generation tugs with a Greek signature
Following his statement, Mr. Xenokostas extensively elaborated on the expertise and production capacity that the ONEΧ Group possesses to fully meet the needs of Greek shipping, with Greek-built ships that are competitive in cost and quality.
Referring to the scheduled production of 20 RAstar 2800 Escort/Terminal Tugboats, Panos Xenokostas explained: "We didn't randomly start with tugboats. On the one hand, the Presidential Decree of 2023 and the support of the relevant Ministry for new shipbuilding that will upgrade port infrastructures, and on the other hand, the controlled risk of tugboats, have given us the opportunity to start in the new construction sector and safely create a model that is currently progressing 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 deposits for the first 20 sets of top-tier engines from MAN Energy Solutions SE, and correspondingly for the first 20 sets of azimuth thrusters (Z-thrusters) as part of our agreement with the leading company SCHOTTEL GmbH, thus creating a powerful, high-quality, and reliable propulsion system.
Completing the design phase, the first steel plate of the tugboat will be cut in November 2025, and the construction time for the first tugboat will be less than 12 months, with each subsequent tugboat being delivered at 2-month intervals. The market's needs for operational excellence, economy, and modernization have been confirmed by the strong interest, as we have already received the first two orders from a Greek-owned shipping company.
The most important thing, however, is that the construction of the new tugboats has once again brought to the forefront not only our Group but also our country as a producer of new, state-of-the-art shipbuilding. The relationship between our shipyards and the tugboat sector is close and mutually beneficial; it is part of the ecosystem and the shipping industry that brings revenue to our country while simultaneously creating new jobs," emphasized Mr. Xenokostas.
Stable investment with prospects
As an entrepreneur who has significantly invested in Greek shipping, Panos Xenokostas shared his views on the prospects of the tugboat sector in Greece and the plans of the ONEX Group: "We have prepared a comprehensive customer experience, with the signature of the world's largest design firm, Robert Allan Naval Architects." Ships of the RAstar 2800 series, measuring 28.4 meters in length with an 85T bollard pull – the highest in their category – can operate in LNG & LPG environments as well as in extremely challenging and diverse operations, whenever, wherever, and for as long as needed," noted the Chairman and CEO of ONEX and added: "We offer a comprehensive solution and have already prepared the corresponding financial tool for our clients, either in the form of ownership or the Performance Based Logistics model to support them in the transition. We offer a highly competitive product, which is why there is great demand not only from customers but also from internationally renowned brokers. We are optimistic that by 2026 we will be able to expand the production line to include another 20 tugs, highlighting the importance of tugs in realizing investment opportunities.