President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias attended on Monday the ceremony for the launch of the modernized submarine “Okeanos,” which took place at the facilities of Hellenic Shipyards S.A. in Skaramangas, near Athens. Also present at the ceremony were members of the country’s military leadership, government ministers, MPs and foreign dignitaries.

It should be noted that the modernization works on the 209-type submarine begun in 2004 and lasted nearly 10 years! “Okeanos” has been part of the Hellenic Navy Fleet since 1978.
Chief of the Hellenic Navy General Staff Vice Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis referred to the submarine’s technical characteristics and thanked the employees of the Hellenic Shipyards for their tireless efforts.

National Defence Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos stressed in his address that the addition of “Okeanos” submarine to the Hellenic Navy fleet reinforces the country’s deterrence capability. He also underlined that the launching of two submarines, “Pipinos” and “Okeanos”, in the past two weeks is a proof of the potential of the country’s shipbuilding sector.