ATHENS — Greece has approved the sale of its main shipyard to the United Arab Emirates.

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The statement ended months of delay over the future of Hellenic. The shipyard was to have been a leading contractor in a multi-billion-dollar naval submarine deal blocked by the Defense Ministry. The first submarine, dubbed Papanikolis, was rejected by the Hellenic Navy as defective.

"It had placed in danger the country's largest shipbuilding industry, thousands of jobs, the entire Greek Navy submarine program and over two billion euro already paid by the Greek state without tangible result," Greek Defense Minister Evangelos Venizelos said.

Earlier in September, the European Commission approved the Abu Dhabi purchase of Hellenic. Under the agreement, Abu Dhabi and ThyssenKrupp would cooperate in naval and civilian ship-building projects.

Over the last few weeks, Greece's parliament was examining the UAE takeover of Hellenic.

Venizelos said the agreement would take effect by Sept. 30.

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