Saronic acquires Gulf Craft

Saronic on Wednesday announced it has acquired Franklin, La. shipbuilder Gulf Craft as part of its plans to produce a fleet of autonomous vessels for naval and commercial marine applications.

The nearly 100-acre Gulf Craft facility will serve as the prototyping and production hub for Saronic’s medium uncrewed surface vessel (MUSV) fleet, starting with the 150' autonomous surface vessel (ASV) Marauder, the Austin, Texas-based company said in a statement. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Saronic said it plans to invest more than $250 million directly into the shipyard to modernize infrastructure, acquire new machinery, and update the facilities in an effort to support a rapid capacity ramp-up, enabling Saronic to deliver up to 50 unmanned ships per year.

The company has retained Gulf Craft’s workforce and added that it expects to create more than 500 new jobs over the next three to four years, including shipbuilders, welders, electricians, engineers, technologists, and naval architects, Saronic said.

“The shipyard's location, deep expertise, and turnkey facilities are ideally suited to allow Saronic to expeditiously develop, test, and produce its first MUSV model and advance our mission to deliver the full range of ASVs needed to support the U.S. Navy's hybrid fleet,” said Saronic CEO Dino Mavrookas.

Saronic’s rise is part of a broader effort to reshape how the U.S. Navy and its allies approach shipbuilding in the face of rapidly advancing technological capabilities. The Navy sees uncrewed vessels as a means to enhance operational capabilities, reduce risks to personnel, and improve cost-efficiency in maritime missions.

In February, Saronic announced it closed of a $600 million Series C funding round, bringing its valuation to $4 billion — quadrupling its worth in just seven months.

Long-term, Saronic intends to invest more than $2.5 billion to develop Port Alpha, a shipyard “designed to produce hundreds of unmanned vessels annually and create thousands of new jobs,” the company said.

“Today marks a significant milestone in Saronic's expansion into autonomous shipbuilding and lays the foundation for our vision of our larger, next-generation shipyard, Port Alpha,” said Mavrookas. “We don't wait — we build for what our customers need, when they need it. While we actively search for a home for Port Alpha, this acquisition gives us the immediate capacity to meet urgent customer needs for larger autonomous vessels and the flexibility to scale to address emerging commercial and defense applications of these advanced systems.”