Saronic breaks ground on $3B+ Port Alpha shipyard in Texas

Saronic has broken ground on Port Alpha, its planned next-generation shipyard in Brownsville, Texas, moving the project from site selection into construction as the autonomous-vessel company expands into large-scale shipbuilding.

The facility represents more than $3 billion in planned private investment and currently covers 835 acres at the Port of Brownsville, with options to expand to roughly 4,400 acres. Saronic says the yard is being designed to build autonomous, autonomy-capable and crewed vessels for both defence and commercial customers.

Port Alpha is being developed around a high-throughput manufacturing model. Saronic plans to use linear production flows, modular construction, robotic welding, CNC fabrication, digitised quality control and data-driven production scheduling across the site.

At opening, the company expects Port Alpha to add more than 150,000 gross tons of annual shipbuilding capacity, with longer-term capacity targeted at around 1.5–2 million gross tons per year at full buildout. The initial site is designed for vessels up to 850 feet long, while later expansion could support ships exceeding 1,200 feet. Initial operations are targeted for 2028.

The first vessels scheduled to be built at Port Alpha are Landing Craft Utility vessels under a U.S. Navy contract. Saronic says the broader yard will also support the autonomous vessel classes central to its existing business, while applying the same manufacturing infrastructure to crewed ships.

Saronic currently develops autonomous maritime platforms including Corsair, Mirage and the 180-foot Marauder, alongside its Echelon command-and-control software. Port Alpha expands the company’s manufacturing infrastructure to support larger maritime systems and crewed vessels.