At the moment, Jadrolinija sees fleet renewal as their primary goal
In October 2017, new CEO of Jadrolinija David Sopta stated that Croatia's biggest shipping company will renew a part of their fleet by replacing the oldest ships with modern, fast ones in order to increase the quality of transport.
The company has recently announced they will procure four ships this year, reports Slobodna Dalmacija on January 4, 2018. Jadrolinija will invest 45 million euro in two new catamarans and two used ones, the latter built after January 1, 2015.
The first pair of catamarans should start operating on lines in Dalmatia and Kvarner by July 15, while the other two should join the fleet before the end of the year. The two new ships will cost Jadrolinija around 24 million euro, while the used ones will cost 21 million euro.
In order to meet the requirements stated in the tender, the shipyard that wins the contract will have to build two aluminum or carbon catamarans, with a capacity of 352 to 442 passengers each. The new ships will both employ a crew of eight members, and will have a storage space that will accommodate up to 20 kg of luggage per each passenger. Vessels should measure up to 45 metres in length and 13 metres in width, making for the largest catamarans in Jadrolinija's current fleet. The minimum speed during the test run should be 30 knots.
Where the used high-speed vessels are considered, most technical requirements match those listed above, with the exception of capacity; the new additions to Jadrolinija's fleet will house from 292 to 442 passengers, along with a crew of eight.
Even though all the catamarans currently owned by Jadrolinija - except one - are at least 27 years old, which makes it hard to meet the requirements of current concession tenders, the management board has no intention on selling the oldest part of their fleet.
"As we have previously announced, the strategic goal of our company is the fleet renewal which calls for continuous investments and improvements. This is exactly what we're doing in the segment of high-speed craft; we're taking decisive steps to lower the average age of the current fleet, but we're also responding to the market which is seeing a fast-growing demand for high-speed transport. All existing catamarans will remain part of out fleet for now, and the high-speed passenger craft will be dynamically dispatched in various times of year so we could use them effectively and meet the market demands, especially in the tourist season", says a statement from Jadrolinija.
The company also stated their primary goal at the moment is to modernise the fleet in order to ensure the most important lines operated by Jadrolinija would soon dispose of faster, bigger, newer, and more comfortable ships than today, but also to provide efficient transport to every inhabited Croatian island.
