Planning for the future, a major investment by Jadrolinija.
By year 2027, the largest Croatian passenger shipping company Jadrolinija plans to invest 281 million euros in the renewal of its fleet. It will purchase a total of 26 ships, of which 23 will be completely new vessels. Simultaneously with the arrival of the new ships, Jadrolinija will gradually retire 32 ships, which means that the total number of ships would decrease from 50 to 44, even though the total capacity of the fleet would still be increased. Jadrolinija would increase its current capacity from the total of 28,020 passengers and 3,924 vehicles on 50 ships to 31,377 passengers and 4,710 vehicles on 44 ships, reports Novi List on September 21, 2015.
These ambitious figures are included in the strategy document on the possibilities of Jadrolinija’s development for the period from 2015 to 2027, which has been recently adopted by the company management bodies. One of the most important goals of Jadrolinija will be to retain 34 concessions on passenger lines in Croatia after January 1, 2017, when the market for the lines connecting Croatian mainland and the islands will be opened to competition.
The renewal of the fleet should begin next year with the purchase of successors for ships “Marco Polo”, “Dubrovnik” and “Liburnija”. The whole shipbuilding program will be divided into three groups. The first will include the construction of passenger ships for shorter trips with a capacity for 400 passengers, and they would replace the oldest ships in the fleet, “Tijat” (built in 1955), “Postira” (1963) and “Premuda” (1957). The second group would include new passenger ships which will connect the more remote islands, Hvar, Lastovo, Korčula and Vis, with the mainland.
Although the strategy does not address this issue, it is obvious that these plans are extremely important for Croatian shipyards, which will be able to compete for these jobs over the next decade. The new ships could bring them orders in the total amount of 281 million euros. The last major investment in Jadrolinija’s fleet took place in 2014, when four ferries worth a total of 32 million euros were ordered. The tender has been won by Uljanik shipyard from Pula and Treći Maj shipyard from Rijeka.
The last part of the fleet renewal program refers to the catamaran fleet, with several new catamarans planned, and the construction of ferries which is planned for the period 2021-2027. The new ferries will be connected with the long-term project for the reconstruction of infrastructure in Croatian ports. The financing of the fleet renewal should be provided with long-term loans and funds from Jadrolinija’s own reserves, under similar conditions like the funding for the last four new ships. One of the most important preconditions for the whole investment will be an increase in annual revenues, which are expected to grow to 1.03 billion kuna by 2020.
