More good news for Split shipyard.
The keel-laying ceremony for the first of five contracted coastal patrol ships for the Coast Guard of the Croatian Navy was held on Thursday afternoon in the Brodosplit shipyard in Split. The project is worth 50 million euros, and the ships will be used to monitor and protect the interests of Croatia at sea, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on September 18, 2015.
The event was attended by prime minister Zoran Milanović, defence minister Ante Kotromanović, the mayor of Split Ivo Baldasar, and chairman of the board of directors of the Split shipyard Tomislav Debeljak.
Debeljak has expressed his satisfaction over the latest developments, and said that they have been able to prove that the shipyard can compete with large “players” in the international shipbuilding industry. “I believe we will never again construct ships which will bring us financial loss, and I hope that the shipbuilding industry in Croatia will be developed to such an extent that we will even build tankers. At the moment, we have around 2,400 employees, plus about two hundred workers from other companies working for us”, said Debeljak.
Milanović pointed out that Croatia is the only new EU member state which still has active shipyards that can build ships and earn revenue. “The Split shipyard was in difficult condition, but the situation is improving. We are making money on ships, and we are especially glad that this shipyard has beaten international competition at the tender for the construction of the five coastal patrol ships. To protect and monitor our sea is something we cannot do without modern ships. For years, there were no new ships being built, and now we are producing something which is truly modern and ours”, said Milanović.
“I am happy that Brodosplit was the shipyard which got this assignment and that in less than a year we will receive the first ship. In the following years, we will receive one or two ships a year. And what should follow after that, which is a large patrol ship for the open sea, is a very good news for the whole of Croatia indeed”, said defence minister Kotromanović.
