As Novac writes on the 3rd of September, 2020, for the first time in the same day, two keels were ceremoniously laid at the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit. These are keels for new buildings (novogradnje) 541 and 542, from a series of coastal patrol boats that are being built for the needs of the coast guard.
The keel for number 542 was laid in the pre-assembly hall, and a ceremony for the laying the keel for number 541 was also held. Two keels were installed as part of the construction project of the four remaining coastal patrol vessels contracted for the Croatian Navy at the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit. This has been taking place following a prototype of the Omis coastal patrol vessel having been built and handed over to the Croatian Navy two years ago.
These contracts are, as has been unofficially found out, worth around 80 million kuna with VAT per ship. These are ships 43.16 metres long and eight metres wide, and they’re equipped with the basic weapons of all coast guard vessels operating today.
The Minister of Defense, Mario Banozic, recalled that the project of building coastal patrol ships started many years ago.
”The design phase was the most demanding part. All shortcomings have been dealt with and everything that defines the entire shipbuilding process has been carried out. Today we received a complete solution that has its own work dynamics. So we can say that the dynamics for these ships is 540 plus 180 plus 180 plus 180 days. Everything that happens earlier will be supported by the Ministry of Defense because the goal is to do the job well in accordance with the financial plan and the requirements of the Ministry of Defense.
Tomislav Debeljak, President of the Management Board of the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit, pointed out that the construction of these four ships, as far as Brodosplit is concerned, should be completed before the agreed deadline.
”The agreed deadlines were revealed by Minister Banozic, and according to our estimates, we might be able to complete them as much as one year earlier than those deadlines. We know that these ships are needed by the Croatian Navy as soon as possible for security reasons, and we’ll do our best to get them as soon as possible,” assured Debeljak.
”We’re not sorry because we received an extremely high quality product. We’re not sorry for the time or the money we invested. Coastal patrol boats are now one of Brodosplit’s biggest export assets. The financial value of these ships that we build for the navy is much lower than in the case of other countries, which have shown interest in building in our country. On the global market, the value of such a ship ranges between 18 and 25 million euros. For Croatia, that price is much lower,” said Tomislav Debeljak.
As for the sailing ship that is still moored in the Croatian shipyard Brodosplit, Debeljak revealed that it is moored exclusively due to the coronavirus pandemic and that the first cruise is planned for April next year.
”The owner of the ship is a company from within the Brodosplit group. We’re in the process of arbitration with the client, which should be concluded in the first quarter of next year. Brodosplit is claiming 48 million euros,” revealed the owner of Brodosplit, who, on this occasion noted that Brodosplit has been dealing with the cruising industry since 2014.
”We took advantage of the crisis in the cruise segment so that we got the best managers and an extremely high-quality crew. Katina, for example, achieved record results this season, so we remained recognised in this segment,” said Debeljak.
Debeljak also noted that he was satisfied with the order book and that at the moment, Brodosplit has 2,200 permanent workers and that when it comes to subcontractors, there are 2,600 and 2,800 workers. The company also boasts between 150 and 200 foreign workers.
Ivo Raffanelli, Commander of the Croatian Navy, noted that this work should have been completed by 2018, but for justified reasons, there was a delay in designing the prototype.
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