Croatian Ferry Jadrolinija Adds "Young" 18 Year Old Vessel to Fleet

June the 25th, 2021 - The Croatian ferry Jadrolinija has added a ''young'' eighteen year old vessel to its fleet. The ferry company has previously been accused of never acquiring anything but old ships, and this one is quite youthful in comparison to some it boasts.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, the largest national shipping company, Jadrolinija, is continuing o procure new but very much used ships - it has rejuvenated its fleet with the aforementioned ferry purchased from the local shipping company Rapska plovidba.

It is a smaller ship, which will replace the ferry "Prizna", which is more than 50 years old, which operates along the Biograd - Tkon line between the mainland and the island of Pasman. The new ship will sail under the name "Tkon", and is 42 metres long, 15.3 metres wide, and has a capacity of 250 passengers and 35 vehicles.

The ship cost the Croatian ferry Jadrolinija 5.3 million kuna plus VAT, ie 6.6 million kuna, but it is also interesting that this price is higher than the estimated value of the procurement stated in the public tender opened back in April this year.

The Croatian ferry Jadrolinija was ready to pay a maximum of 4.5 million kuna without VAT, or 5.7 million kuna, for the new ship with the characteristics that Rapska plovidba's offer fits into.

In the explanation for such a decision, the Croatian ferry Jadrolinija calls for the use of the possibilities from the Public Procurement Act from Article 298, paragraph 9. According to that Act, in such cases, if the offered price of the most favourable bid exceeds the estimated value of the procurement, it is accepted.

Rapska plovidba appeared in this tender as the only bidder, and the inspection of the passenger ship determined that it meets all the required conditions of the Croatian ferry Jadrolinija.

''Tkon'' will sail as the 55th vessel in the seemingly growing fleet operated by Jadrolinija, for which this is the fifth ship purchased in the last four years with the strategic goal of rejuvenating the fleet.

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