According to the Hellenic Statistical Authority survey, which was published on Friday, March 22, 2019, for the activity of the Hellenic Ship Repairing Industry, the sector in Greece for 2018 resulted to an increase of 21% in the number of vessels and 23.4 % of gross tonnage compared to 2017.
In total, 541 vessels were repaired at Greek shipyards: 165 at in-floating/dry docks and 376 off docks.
Note that in-dock repairs resulted to the biggest increase, specifically 47.3% of the total number of ships and 127.7% in gross tonnage.
In particular, the 112 ships for 2017 became 165 ships in 2018, thus 53 more. 40 of these were repaired at the re-operating Neorion Syros Shipyards, in the first 7 months of 2018.
This means that 75.47% of this growth rate resulted from Neorion within 7 months since its reopening by ONEX SHIPYARDS and with the smaller floating dock in operations, the Handy size, as the Panamax size one was under full rebuilding.
A correspondingly higher contribution from Neorion was also made to the gross tonnage. In order to realize the enormous contribution of the operation of the reopening of Neorion Syros Shipyards, it is worth noting that for the previous year 2016-2017, the total in-dock repairs sector had dropped by 8.9%, i.e. dropping from 123 ships to 112 ships as a result of a nearly twenty-year downward trend.
For 2019, forecasts are even more optimistic as with the entry of the renovated Panamax size floating dock of Neorion, 45 days ago, ONEX SHIPYARDS expects to repair about 100 to 120 vessels in docks.
Even if the rest of the industry performance remains at the same figures, an overall growth in the whole industry will be achieved in the country that will reach over 100% in 2017-2019, with Neorion contributing an over 90% added growth in Greece.
Similar and more spectacular increases are also expected in the total tonnage of repaired ships.
The above Hellenic Statistical Authority survey clearly indicates that the reopening of the Neorion Syros Shipyards created a sense of confidence for Greek and international ship owners who, after decades, have brought their ships back to Greece for repairs, reversing a twenty-year negative trend.
Thus, the investment of ONEX SHIPYARDS in Neorion of Syros not only revives the island of Syros but the Greek economy in general too and it is a landmark of the return of the heavy, specialized industry in Greece.
From Huffington Post, Greek Edition, 03.29.2019
