Vice President JD Vance joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and members of the state's congressional delegation Wednesday to mark the opening of Saronic Technologies Inc.'s $3.2 billion Port Alpha manufacturing facility in South Texas. Vance described the new shipyard, located at the Port of Brownsville, as "the American dream renewed."
The Austin-based company, which produces autonomous ships and drones, expects the Port Alpha facility to become the largest shipyard in the United States and double American shipbuilding capacity.
"We are rebuilding the American dream from the ground up by employing and investing in American workers and American businesses," Vance said at the ceremony.
Saronic projects the facility will create at least 10,000 new full-time jobs and generate more than $160 billion in economic impact for Cameron County.
Gov. Abbott highlighted the facility's strategic importance. "Saronic is truly changing the arc of shipbuilding, and in the process, changing the arc of national security, and it has made Texas its cornerstone of next-generation shipbuilding," Abbott said.
The Port Alpha shipyard will encompass approximately 850 acres, with potential for expansion beyond 4,000 acres. The company expects the facility to deliver 150,000 gross tons of new shipbuilding capacity.
U.S. shipbuilding has suffered decades of neglect. The country's most recent federal shipyard was built during World War II. Currently, the United States produces less than 1 percent of the world's ships, compared to China's 53 percent.
Saronic CEO and co-founder Dino Mavrookas said the project's importance transcends corporate interests. "There's a reason the vice president of the United States is coming to talk to us today about what we're doing at Port Alpha, and it's not because of how cool I am," Mavrookas said. "It's because of how important shipbuilding is to this country."
Vance underscored the need for military equipment to be domestically produced. He said tools used by the U.S. military must be made in the United States by people who hold "the interests of the country at heart."
Vance detailed the human impact of the new jobs. "What this facility will mean is that 10,000 families have a good paycheck," he said. "10,000 sons and daughters will see mom and dad go to work with purpose. 10,000 people will know that their country is being built not by people outside of the United States, but by their own fellow citizens and their own people in their own community."
The first phase of the Port Alpha shipyard is scheduled to be operational by 2028.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited Saronic on Sept. 18, calling the manufacturer "the gold standard" of American military manufacturing. Saronic serves as a key commercial provider for the U.S. military. The company gained attention this summer when one of its autonomous vessels rescued pilots of a U.S. Apache helicopter.
