Robot boat builder Saronic Technologies has tapped a site in Brownsville, Texas, for its ambitious Port Alpha $3.2 billion shipyard after securing a tax abatement deal from the local government.
The 835-acre site in Cameron County is in the Port of Brownsville, home to the majority of the country’s shipbreaking industry.
Speaking to reporters this week, Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas said the greenfield site could employ up to 10,000 people over the next 10 years and would focus on both commercial and defense shipbuilding. Construction is set to begin this year. A facility is expected to be ready to build in 2028 with the capacity to build ships up to 850 feet, he said. That’s about the size of a Wasp-class amphibious warship.
“That’ll just be phase one of the project. We have the ability to go up to 4,000 acres. That’ll make it not only the largest shipyard in the U.S. but the largest one of the largest shipyards in the world,” Mavrookas said.
This will be Austin-based Saronic’s third facility following a factory in central Texas that builds smaller 25-foot Corsair autonomous boats and the former Gulf Craft shipyard in Franklin, La., the company bought last year to build Saronic’s Marauder unmanned medium surface vessel.
Mavrookas did not specify the types of ships the company would build at the new facility. In renderings the company released on Thursday, the company showed ships about the size of a San Antonio-class amphibious warship under construction on a large apron by the water. The notional craft featured a bulbous bow and modular space amidships, according to the rendering.
“What we’re trying to do is not just build the same ships that we’ve been building, but to also incorporate the level of technology and autonomy into ships that Saronic is developing,” Mavrookas said. “Those ships might not be fully autonomous or fully unmanned on day one, but over time, as we look at building out the tech and building out the industry as a whole., there’s no reason that you can’t unman those ships completely.”
The announcement comes after the Cameron County commissioners approved a 95 percent, 19-year tax abatement for the estimated $3.2 billion shipyard las month.
Saronic began as a venture capital startup and made small autonomous boats. The Navy has bought $350 million in small vessels from the company and their design for the medium unmanned surface vessel
On Sunday, three Corsairs were part of an attack on the Iranian naval base Bandar Abbas that attacked a repair pier and an Iranian midget submarine, USNI News previously reported.
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