September the 27th, 2026 – Millions are still being spent on Tito’s dilapidated Galeb ship, with deadlines broken and no museum in sight.
The (in)famous, rusty old vessel Galeb has a history stretching from its construction back in the 1930s, through sinking during WWII to the status of Tito’s ship and a symbol of the Non-Aligned Movement. It is still waiting for its final conversion into a museum. Index reports that in more recent years, its story has been reduced to moves between different shipyards, successive deadline overruns and constantly rising costs. Around €22 million has so far been invested in the renovation and conversion, partly from EU funds.
more repairs, more deadlines
Galeb is now going to the Viktor Lenac Shipyard for the repair of damage caused in February, when a Turkish cargo ship hit it. The cost of the repair will be covered by the insurance of the Turkish ship, and at the same time the regular annual overhaul will also be carried out. President of the Management Board of the Viktor Lenac Shipyard, Luka Hrboka, confirmed the price of the works. “The amount is €860 thousand including VAT. The whole ship was built in the riveted system and that could be a bit more demanding than on some standard ship,” Hrboka stated for RTL. The ship should return to the Rijeka Port in about one month.
Project burdened by postponements
The museum on Galeb was supposed to open its doors back in 2021. The last announced deadline was February of this year. Now the opening has been postponed to the end of the year. Rijeka Mayor Iva Rinčić believes that the project was problematic from the start.
“I think there was a series of, I will dare to say, wrong decisions, from the purchase itself to, of course, the costs that exceeded the deadlines and so on. Now we are in a situation that in talks and negotiations with the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of EU Programmes and Projects we are trying to open the ship and bring the project to an end so that we avoid as many penalties as possible,” Rinčić said.
the museum display is ready
From the Museum of the City of Rijeka they say that around 90 percent of the permanent display is ready. The exhibition will, through original objects, cover the entire history of Galeb, and not only the period related to Josip Broz Tito.
“Tito recognised it as an interesting vessel. He observed a military exercise of the Yugoslav Navy and, when he saw that the ship was very interesting, it simultaneously became both a school ship and his residential yacht for travels around the world. Of course we document all those attractive moments on the ship,” explained the spokesperson of the Museum of the City of Rijeka, Velid Đekić. That Galeb as a museum will certainly attract visitors is also believed by Rijeka resident Slavko Vanino. “Enemies will also come and will spit on it there,” he joked and added that the ship will certainly attract attention. After a series of unforeseen problems and broken deadlines, hope remains that Galeb will finally be opened to the public by the end of the year.
