The NCP Šibenik Shipyard has agreed to build a new vessel model for Norwegian fishers – a hybrid aluminium catamaran. The months-long negotiations have been completed and the contract was signed for the construction of the new type of ship for the Norwegian mariculture market, reports Jutarnji List on February 21, 2019.
“Given the entry of a Slovenian investor into the ownership of the NCP shipyard, CroNoMar hopes for further successful cooperation. We have met the new owners and we are looking forward to increasing production for international markets,” says Ana Zajc, senior project advisor at CroNoMar, adding that it is very important for these projects as well as for all the partners involved that the situation in the shipyard is stabilized.
The ship in question is a 13.75-metre-long aluminium catamaran. This model has a significantly higher contracted value than other ships delivered until now by the NCP. Although the basic designs were made by the Norwegian company Marin Design AS, the quality, competitiveness, professionalism and experience of Croatian shipbuilders were crucial in bringing the construction of this hybrid vessel to Croatia.
The financial value is not the only significant feature of this project. It is the intention of Croatian and Norwegian partners to create the possibility of a multi-year production of this type of vessel, for both Norwegian and other mariculture markets.
“Norway is undertaking major efforts to reduce emissions of CO2, nitrogen oxides and other carbon substances. The intention of Moen Marin AS, which has commissioned the ship, is to reduce the gas emissions by using electric motors whenever possible. Moen Marin AS has been building ships in Croatia for years. We have chosen Croatia for the implementation of this innovative project due to our positive experiences from previous projects and the combination of expert skills, competitive pricing and significant capacities that Croatia has,” said Vegar Livik, the project engineer at Moen Marin AS.
Earlier this year, the shipyard has signed new contracts for several other vessels which the Croatian partners will produce for the Norwegian client. With these new contracts, the Šibenik shipyard will achieve a remarkable result of making a total of 100 vessels for the global mariculture markets in the last ten years.
According to data provided by NCP Group director Roko Vuletić, NCP completed last year with 15 supplied catamarans to the Norwegian customer, and similar production volume is expected in 2019. “We have been monitoring the trends in ship electrification as a technology for the future, with a view of reducing the emissions of harmful gases. We believe that this project will enable us to acquire the necessary practical knowledge for the installation of electrical systems and that the acquired competences will be used in the future projects of electrification of the propulsion systems on ships,” said Vuletić.
Since the beginning of exports to Norwegian customers, including in 2018, as many as 91 ships were delivered from the Šibenik NCP shipyard, eight from Tehnomont in Pula, 11 from the Oštro shipyard in Kaštela, and one ship by Intelligent Marine Solution from Šibenik. The value of all exported vessels in these ten years to clients in international mariculture markets is over 100 million euros.
Translated from Jutarnji List (reported by Jozo Vrdoljak).
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