21 February, 2022 - Over 310,000 vessels arrived in Croatian seaports in 2021, 25% more than in 2020, and there were 27.3 million passengers, up 45.4% on 2020 but down 23% on 2019, according to the national statistical office.

The cargo turnover was 21.6 million tonnes, up 1.1% on 2020.

Most of the passenger turnover was recorded from April through September and it was highest in August and September, in keeping with the peak tourist season.

In Q4 2021, 60,000 vessels arrived in Croatian seaports (+9.5%) and there were 3.6 million passengers (+37%), while cargo fell 8.7% to 5.4 million tonnes.

The cargo decrease was due to a 24.2% fall in liquid cargo, which accounts for 42% of the seaport cargo turnover, and a 1.6% fall in general cargo which has a share of 30%.

In Q4 2021, the Omišalj port saw the sharpest cargo turnover fall on the year to 1.3 million tonnes (-37,8%).

As for passenger turnover in Q4, it was highest in Split with 580,600 passengers (+42%), followed by Zadar with 366,000 (+21%) and Preko on Ugljan island with 326,000 (+18%).

All other Adriatic ports saw year-on-year passenger increases in Q4 2021. In Q4 2020, there were tougher travel restrictions due to COVID and there was no vaccination yet.

The highest passenger turnover increase in Q4 was recorded in Dubrovnik with just under 147,000 (+122.6%), followed by Rabac and Hvar, which saw increases of about 90%.

The last quarter of 2021 also saw a rise in the number of personal vehicles and buses embarking and disembarking, with 731,000 personal vehicles (+33%) and over 4,600 buses (+78.6%).

More than two million euros are set to be handed out to various Croatian port authorities from a joint Italian-Croatian programme to ensure to high quality and safe transport on the Adriatic sea.

As Morski writes on the 5th of May, 2020, under the INTERREG V-A Italy-Croatia CBC Programme for 2014-2020, the European Regional Development Fund has approved 7.1 million euros for a project called SUSPORT - Sustainable PORTs.

This is a cross-border cooperation programme between Italy and Croatia in which, in addition to the leading partner - the Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea - fifteen other project partners are participating, of which 8 are from Italy and 7 are from Croatia.

As part of the project, a total of 2.7 million euros was approved for Croatian partners, of which 2.2 million euros was intended for various Croatian port authorities. To be precise, these are the port authorities of Rijeka, Zadar, Split, Ploce and Dubrovnik. The total part of the budget for each of the aforementioned Croatian port authorities individually amounts to 440,000 euros, of which European Union grants amount to 374,000 euros or 85 percent of the project value.

These funds have been approved for development projects that will increase environmental sustainability and improve the energy efficiency of Croatian ports.

By implementing the project, the Rijeka port authority will see the design and procurement of equipment for the improvement of electric lighting and the introduction of LED lighting technology in public port areas used by citizens enabled. The cash injection will also go towards the procurement and installation of charging stations for electric vehicles. The goal of the project is to save electricity and reduce light pollution in public port areas.

In addition, the money will enable the introduction of alternative energy sources in the port of Gazenica, ie, the installation of a photovoltaic system that will provide energy for port lighting and a solar terminal system for hot water and heating for the Zadar port authority. The goal of that being the saving of electricity and the development of the Gazenica terminal into a "green" port.

The project will enable the further improvement of the quality of port services and environmental protection with the exchange of examples of the best practices for the Split port authority.

For Ploce port, the project will enable the further improvement of the energy efficiency of various port operations and increase its competencies for managing maritime and multimodal freight transport in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Last but my no means least, the project will enable to Dubrovnik port authority the introduction of new LED technology for the lighting of the port area, which will ensure significant savings in electricity consumption.

The project generally addresses the improvement of the quality, safety and environmental sustainability of maritime and coastal transport services by promoting multimodality and will officially start in June/July 2020, and will last for a total of three years.

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