Greek shipyards group ONEX to undertake EUR 1 billion fleet modernisation programme for ferry giant Attica Group

Greek ferry giant Attica Group has signed a MoC (memorandum of cooperation) with New York-headquartered ONEX Group for the EUR 1 billion upgrade of its 45 vessel-ferry fleet. ONEX owns and operates the two Greek shipyards Elefsis Shipyard, on the Greek mainland, near Perama, and Neorion Shipyards, on the island of Syros.

Elefsis Shipyard is currently being brought back into operations and builds and repair ships, while Neorion Shipyards is one of Greece’s leading shiprepair facilities.

The Attica modernisation programme is expected to take ten years to complete and the current fleet comprises 45 ferries operated by subsidiaries: Superfast Ferries, Blue Star Ferries, Hellenic Seaways, ANEK Lines and Africa Morocco Link.

The Attica fleet currently serves 52 destinations connecting 67 ports in the Greek domestic market and international routes, and comprises both ropax ferries and high-speed ferries.

Blue Star Ferries, Hellenic Seaways and ANEK Lines serve on routes to domestic ports in the Cyclades, North East Aegean, Saronic Gulf, Sporades and Crete.  Superfast Ferries and ANEK operate international routes between Greece (Patras, Igoumenitsa and Corfu) to Italy (Ancona, Bari and Venice). Meanwhile, Africa Morocco Link operates across the Straits of Gibraltar, between Algeciras (Spain) and Tanger Med (Morocco).

Under the recently signed MoC, the two ONEX shipyards are now responsible totally for the repair and maintenance of the Attica fleet and many managed vessels, or ferries acquired during the 10-year programme.

The MoC was signed towards the end of December by ONEX Group’s CEO Panos Xenokostas and Attica Group’s CEO Kyriakos Mageiras and the deal also includes the upgrade and energy conversions of the fleet in view of the ships transition and the improvement of their environmental requirements to meet European and International requirements. Some existing ferries will be fitted with new dual-fuel propulsion systems.

The agreement between Attica and ONEX also includes the potential of newbuilding ropax ferries.  These vessels, for the Aegean routes and the international services, will be built by ONEX Elefsis Shipyard. 

Meanwhile, over the Christmas and New Year period the following vessels were undergoing repair at the two ONEX yards:

ONEX Elefsis Shipyard:

• H.W. Otto – 40,435 dwt 2007-built chemical tanker, owned by Pea Maritime SA and managed by Germany’s Interorient Marine Services (Germany) GmbH & C0 KG

ONEX Neorion Shipyard:

• Dulce Diva – 63,530 dwt 2019-built bulk carrier, owned by Greece’s Sealink Navigation Ltd, Glyfada, Athens
• Hinoki – 53,450 dwt 2008-built bulk carrier, owned by Taiwan’s Hsin Chien Marine, Taipei
• Jamno – 36,500 dwt 2018-built general cargo vessel, owned by Poland’s Polsteam, Szczecin