Minister Hajdaš Dončić officially picked up 10 boats for buffer stock
A while back Ministry of Economy ordered 10 aluminum boats from a Croatian company “Marine Consulting” for buffer stock and they will be used for search and rescue in flooded areas. Finished boats were officially presented to Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure Sinišar Hajdaš Dončić on Friday October 23, 2015.
Marine Consulting is a company from Varaždin that specializes in construction, maintenance and repair of aluminum boats and it is a part of the DIV group which includes several other companies, including the Split shipyard. During his official visit Minister Dončić toured the boat building plant with the Varaždin County prefect Predrag Štromar. They both congratulated the company on their success and the County prefect explained the current situation regarding search and rescue boats in his county: “We currently have two vessels that are regularly used on river Drava. Their quality is not nearly as good as these particular ones and I am happy to say that few of these boats are going to Svibovac Podravski here in our county, but I do hope they won’t be used much since their primary purpose is search and rescue during floods” Štromar said.
Damir Kralj, director of Marine Consulting said that they are currently full of new orders and described the boats which were presented to the Minister: “These boats are made out of sea proof aluminum, they are tough and robust and they have proven to be almost indestructible in their use so far. They can carry very heavy loads which is extremely important for rescue boats”.
Total value of this order is 1.107.500 kuna while the price of each boat is 110.750 kuna. They are 6m long with total carrying capacity of 1000kg meaning that the boat can carry 8 persons or a load of up to 1000 kg.
– Through extensive testing these boats have proven to be absolutely safe for their intended purpose. Buying Croatian made boats was a great decision which will definitely raise the level of security and after the floods we’ve experienced in the last few weeks, I think we can all agree that safety and ability to react quickly to save as many people is of utmost importance, said Minister Hajdaš Dončić.
All purchased vessels will be distributed along the most critical areas where there is a higher risk of flooding and it is definitely a good thing that Croatian authorities, after years of neglecting our domestic small boat builders, are finally ordering boats from Croatian manufacturers since their quality and price are both on par with their international competition, if not even better.
