In a sea of negative news headlines and depressing economic forecasts, some good news arrives from the Kraljevica shipyard – it is currently full of Jadrolinija vessels.
The Croatian shipbuilding industry didn’t need any other knockbacks. Long before the coronavirus pandemic began, the industry had been in dire straits, needing guarantee after guarantee from the government. This ailing industry saw the strike of its unpaid and overworked staff, and the enfeebled shipyards Uljanik (Pula) and 3 Maj (Rijeka) shipyards were only ever in the press for the wrong reasons.
The coronavirus pandemic was the absolute last thing this industry needed, and yet we find ourselves in a situation in which the entire domestic economy is under threat from an invisible enemy. That being said, it isn’t also so bleak, and the Kraljevica shipyard has plenty of work on its hands despite the dark days we’re currently in the midst of.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of May, 2020, as many as four of Jadrolinija’s vessels are currently ”housed” at the Kraljevica shipyard. The ships in question are the catamaran “Adriana”, the ferries “Mate Balota” and “Laslovo”, and “Sveti Juraj” which requires some more extensive works.
After the economic downturn and the dramatic events of March 2020, followed by paralysis, deep uncertainty and fears that everything was truly about to go under over the coming months, a sigh of relief can be felt at the Kraljevica shipyard, where they’re dealing with all of the ships that have come to them for various repairs, Novi List writes.
The “Faros” ferry should also have arrived from the Viktor Lenac shipyard, and in the following days, the “Cres” ferry from Losinj is also due to arrive at the Kraljevica shipyard. There are also two fishermen, the White and the Celestial, on a regular overhaul, and there is also Tito’s Galeb, the upkeep of which is the subject of constant controversy, whose restoration and conversion into what has been imagined as ship-museum is also underway.
If nothing else, the uncertainty factor is now smaller, but the contours of post-coronavirus business operations, at least of some sort, are becoming mildly visible on the horizon.
Ivan Ivic, the owner of the aforementioned shipyard, made sure to note that they are still not working at full capacity, they are at a mere 75 percent, and it is quite likely that when they do the calculations at the end of this second quarter, they will be down by about 30 percent.
Make sure to follow our business page for more.
