June the 7th, 2021 - The works on Croatia's long awaited Peljesac bridge have been progressing well, but is the Chinese vessel carrying the last of the Peljesac bridge segments experiencing technical difficulties?
As Morski writes, for two days in a row now, the Chinese "Development Way" cargo ship which is carrying the final Peljesac bridge segments has not been moving a great deal at all. The vessel sails under the Panamanian flag and has been strangely floating around the Strait of Otranto, more specifically at the entrance to the Adriatic sea.
The Chinese ship's current position can be seen on the site vesselfinder.com, and the limited maneuverability of the ship is stated as the reasons for its two days spent floating in the middle of the open sea, which means that it is currently experiencing malfunctions and is out of order.
Development Way was otherwise built back in 1983 and is intended for the transport of heavy loads. Its destination is the port of Ploce in southern Dalmatia, and according to Hrvatske ceste (Croatian roads), it is currently engaged in the transport of the very last 24 of the Peljesac bridge segments, more precisely of its steel span structure.
It's worth noting that the "Development Way" vessel initially started its long journey from China to Croatia back at the end of April, which means that the production of parts for the Peljesac Bridge in Chinese plants has now been completed and that the bridge that will finally connect the two parts of Croatia, removing the Bosnian border crossing from the equation, is finished at long last.
These final Peljesac bridge segments currently floating around in the Strait of Otranto will connect the country's territory, and as such the EU's territory, from one coast to the other, spanning a total length of 2440 metres.
According to the latest information available about the Chinese ship, the ship's entry into the port of Ploce confirmed for Tuesday, June the 8th instead of Monday the 7th.
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