Salvage of floating dock No.1 of the Elefsina Shipyards has been completed

The ONEX Shipyards & Technologies group announced the completion of the lifting of the floating dock No.1 of the Elefsina Shipyards, which had sunk on September 5, 2018 during rough seas.

“The operation of raising the tank was an extremely complex undertaking due to the poor condition it was in, after decades of abandonment, in combination with its many years of being at the bottom of the Elefsina Shipyard facilities (since September 5, 2018)”, as stated in relevant announcement.

The full lifting of the dock was completed on 28 March 2023, “after two weeks of intensive preparation and planning, and the four-week lift operation”. The rest of her maintenance, repair and upgrade program is expected to follow soon, as part of the overall plan to modernize the shipyard.

Attempt to regenerate the shipyards

“The program to upgrade the facilities and operational capabilities of the Elefsina Shipyard is a milestone in the upliftment of the shipbuilding industry in Greece. At the same time, however, it also highlights the degree of complete obsolescence and impoverishment of critical equipment of the Shipyard, such as the floating tanks, making the work of special crews and workers extremely difficult”, states a statement by ONEX.

“The main collective parameter, management and employees, remains the dedication to the effort to fulfill the vision of the regeneration of the Elefsina Shipyards, and their establishment as a regional center of innovation and industrial solutions of high added value, in the Eastern Mediterranean. The recovery of such a complex and challenging shipwreck showed that nothing can stand in the way of the determination of shipyard workers in our country”, it is also noted.

“The ONEX group congratulates Mr. Konstantinos Nizamis and the special team of the GREEK DIVING CENTER, the technical and engineering staff of the Shipyards as well as all the workers and executives who managed to overcome the adversities and to achieve the impossible, the raising of tank No.1 of the Elefsina Shipyards”, concludes the announcement.