As Morski writes on the 14th of November, 2020, recently, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic, accompanied by his associates, visited the Brodosplit shipyard in the Dalmatian city of Split.
President Zoran Milanovic was welcomed by Tomislav Debeljak, President of the Management Board of Brodosplit, and Tomislav Corak, Member of the Management Board. With a walk-through of the Brodosplit shipyard, the President was introduced to the current work and projects that are underway there, and especially to the continuation of the construction of coastal patrol boats, contracted for the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Croatia.
''The impressions are good because the shipyard is working. It went through restructuring, the state had a role to play there and it ended many years ago. They started working and are profitable. I'm glad that part of that programme also includes something that the Croatian Government ordered from them in a tender, and those are the coast guard ships, one of which has already sailed, that is "Omis". Two are currently under construction, so one should be finished by the end of 2021, the other after that and then two more every six months,'' said President Zoran Milanovic, expressing his clear satisfaction with the way things were going.
Two years ago, with a prototype of the coastal patrol ship ''Omis'', the president recently paid an official visit to neighbouring Montenegro. With its technical equipment and navigable characteristics, it has significantly improved the capabilities of the coast guard, and is a regular party in search and rescue operations.
''There are a number of countries that have needs for such products and that need to procure such vessels. There is space, these are very high quality products and they're cheaper than some that some other countries in the Mediterranean bought in the north of Europe,'' President Zoran Milanovic pointed out.
''I'd like to thank the President of the Republic of Croatia for supporting this Croatian industry and for promoting it abroad. The ship is the most complex product that Croatian industry can produce. The ships we make for export contain 70 percent Croatian components, of the truly affordable price at which we build these ships, 45 percent of that amount is returned immediately or in the short term to the state budget.
In addition to thanking the President for his support, we'd also like to thank the Croatian Government, which has found ways to continue financing the construction of these remaining four vessels during the coronavirus crisis. This is very important to us because over 400 workers are currently working on them,'' said Tomislav Debeljak, President of the Management Board of Brodosplit.
During the tour of the production facilities, President Zoran Milanovic was especially impressed by the tour of the ''Ultramarine'' polar cruiser, which is 128 metres long and will be able to accommodate 200 passengers housed in 103 luxuriously equipped cabins, which will be taken care of by 116 crew members. The ship is in its final stages now, and a contract has been signed with Quark Expeditions from Seattle, USA, as part of the Travelopia Group.
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