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(https://gcaptain.com/join-the-club/?mt_source=HambugerNavigation) Sign Up (https://gcaptain.com/?memberful_endpoint=auth) Sign In   Don’t Miss Your Daily Briefing for the Maritime Industry Join the leading maritime news network — trusted by our 107,178 members  (user)   () (Enter your email)  ()  (Subscribe)        (https://www.facebook.com/gCaptain-27223368885/) (facebook)  (https://www.instagram.com/gcaptain) (instagram)  (https://twitter.com/gCaptain) (twitter)      (Saronic breaks ground on its next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha)  aronic breaks ground on its next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha, in Brownsville, TX. Pictured from left to right: Sergio Tito Lopez, Chairman of the Port of Brownsville Commission; Doug Lambert, COO; Rob Lehman, CCO; Texas Governor Greg Abbott; U.S. Vice President JD Vance; Dino Mavrookas, CEO; Vib Altekar, CTO; and John Morgan, SVP of Operations. Photo courtesy Saronic Saronic Starts Construction on $3 Billion Texas Shipyard (https://gcaptain.com/author/mike/) Mike Schuler Total Views: 192   September 30, 2026   Saronic Technologies has broken ground on its planned $3 billion Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, moving one of the largest new U.S. shipbuilding projects in decades from the planning stage into construction. Vice President JD Vance and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott joined Saronic executives Wednesday for the groundbreaking at the Port of Brownsville. Saronic (https://gcaptain.com/saronic-picks-brownsville-for-3-billion-port-alpha-autonomous-shipyard/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) selected Brownsville for Port Alpha in July , outlining plans for a new shipyard capable of building both autonomous and crewed vessels for defense and commercial customers. The initial site covers 835 acres, with options that could eventually expand the footprint to nearly 4,400 acres. Operations are expected to begin in 2028. The company says Port Alpha will open with about 150,000 gross tons of annual shipbuilding capacity, which it says would more than double current U.S. commercial shipbuilding capacity. The yard will initially be able to build vessels up to 850 feet long, with future expansion potentially supporting ships longer than 1,200 feet. The first phase calls for 1.2 million square feet of enclosed production space spread across eight to 10 buildings, more than 2,500 feet of deepwater quay and two to four positions for final ship erection. Saronic is also planning annual steel-processing capacity of about 75,000 tonnes. (Artist's rendering of Saronic's planned Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, showing multiple construction halls, waterfront assembly areas, and large vessels under construction along the quay.)  A rendering of Saronic’s planned Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, Texas. The company plans to invest more than $3 billion in the next-generation facility, which is expected to begin operations in 2028. Image courtesy Saronic.  JE Dunn and Alberici have been selected as the joint-venture contractor for the initial construction phase. “American shipbuilding needs to be rebuilt for what comes next,” Saronic co-founder and CEO Dino Mavrookas said. He said the facility is being designed around modular construction and higher production throughput for both autonomous and conventional ships.  Port Alpha is also moving ahead as Saronic’s Navy business expands rapidly. The company plans to build U.S. Navy LCU 1700 landing craft at the Brownsville yard after being selected earlier this month alongside Conrad Shipyard and Master Boat Builders for prototype agreements covering the next generation of Navy landing craft. The three initial awards carried a combined obligation of roughly $280.5 million. (https://gcaptain.com/master-boat-builders-wins-first-navy-prime-contract-for-landing-craft/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) gCaptain reported on the LCU awards earlier this month . The groundbreaking also comes one day after Saronic disclosed that it had received a Navy production award for its 180-foot Marauder autonomous surface vessel under the service’s Medium Unmanned Surface Vessel Marketplace. (https://gcaptain.com/saronic-wins-navy-production-contract-for-180-foot-autonomous-surface-vessel/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Marauder completed more than 140 Navy test scenarios during eight days of continuous at-sea evaluation before receiving the production award. Together, the programs are pushing Saronic beyond the smaller autonomous craft on which the Austin-based company built its early business and into large-vessel production and conventional naval shipbuilding. Port Alpha is designed to accommodate that expansion. Saronic and Texas officials estimate the project could eventually support as many as 10,000 direct jobs, including welders, machinists, naval architects, software engineers and robotics specialists. State officials put the project’s potential long-term economic impact in Texas at $264.5 billion, although details behind that projection were not provided in Wednesday’s announcements. For Saronic, Wednesday’s groundbreaking turns what was announced just two months ago as an ambitious new shipyard into an active industrial project — and one that is increasingly tied to the Navy’s push to expand both conventional shipbuilding capacity and its future autonomous fleet. 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(https://gcaptain.com/join-the-club/?mt_source=ArticleSidebar) Sign Up (https://gcaptain.com/?memberful_endpoint=auth) Sign In       Related Articles   (https://gcaptain.com/saronic-wins-navy-production-contract-for-180-foot-autonomous-surface-vessel/) (Saronic Marauder MUSV lowered into the water on a 500-ton Marine Travelift mobile boat hoist at the Franklin, Louisiana shipyard)    (https://gcaptain.com/category/maritime-defense-news/) Defense  (https://gcaptain.com/saronic-wins-navy-production-contract-for-180-foot-autonomous-surface-vessel/) Saronic Wins Navy Production Contract for 180-Foot Autonomous Surface Vessel  Saronic Technologies has won a U.S. Navy production contract for its 180-foot Marauder autonomous surface vessel after completing an at-sea evaluation that put the ship through more than 140 scenarios over eight... September 29, 2026 Total Views: 3530      (https://gcaptain.com/the-wartime-secretary-of-the-navy/) (The Honorable Hung Cao, Acting Secretary of the Navy, speaks to Sailors during an all hands call in the hangar bay of the world’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), while underway in the Mediterranean Sea, May 4, 2026)    (https://gcaptain.com/category/gcaptain/) gCaptain  (https://gcaptain.com/the-wartime-secretary-of-the-navy/) The Wartime Secretary of the Navy  What (Acting) Secretary Hung Cao’s First Five Months Tell Us About the Job Ahead By Bruce Kimbrell (Policy Op-Ed) President Trump has nominated the Honorable Hung Cao to become the... September 22, 2026 Total Views: 3275      (https://gcaptain.com/master-boat-builders-wins-first-navy-prime-contract-for-landing-craft/) (Rendering of a U.S. Navy LCU 1700 landing craft carrying military vehicles on deck.)    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