Saronic selects Brownsville, Texas, as the home for Port Alpha, a new $3 billion shipyard and manufacturing facility.
Saronic, an autonomous shipbuilding defense start-up, announced it will invest more than $3 billion to build Port Alpha in Brownsville, Texas. The new shipyard is designed to produce a wide variety of commercial and military vessels, including ships up to 850 feet in length. The administration has focused on boosting America’s shipbuilding capacity to keep pace with China and address current delays and cost overruns in the U.S. fleet. The selection of Brownsville comes after Saronic passed over a major proposal from California Forever in Solano County. While California business boosters expressed frustration over losing the contract, critics of the California Forever project noted that the site may have lacked a clear enough path to meet the company's required speed. Port Alpha is expected to generate significant regional economic impact and create up to 10,000 direct jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, with the facility expected to open for operations in 2028.