17 June 2021 - Jadrolinija national ferry company acquired a new ship that will connect the town of Biograd with Tkon on Pasman island.

"Jadrolinija" is one of the most used words in the Croatian language during the summer, at least on the coast. This national ferry company has been connecting the mainland and the islands of the Croatian part of the Adriatic for decades. Its international lines see it connecting Croatia with Italy for part of the year as well.

Because of the small size of the towns and villages and the scarce population living on the islands, only a portion of these lines are profitable and the fleet is pretty large. It is therefore quite a newsworthy item to see Jadrolinija presenting a new addition. Ferry „Tkon“ joined the fleet that now counts 55 ships in total.

Valuable Addition

It was purchased from Rapska Plovidba (Rab Shipping) as index.hr reports. Tkon is a product of renowned Croatian shipyard Viktor Lenac. It is 42 metres long, 15,3 metres wide, and can hold 250 passengers and 35 cars. It was built in 2003. In comparison, ferry „Prizna“ that serviced this Jadrolinija line so far is over 50 years old. It will be on stand-by for the busiest parts of the year. After the purchase Tkon is heading to the docks for maintenace and re-painting. This is good news for all travellers to Pasman island, but also all the islanders and Biograd locals. Chairman of the board of Jadolinija, David Spota said the move goes along the strategic goal of updating and improving the fleet. This is the fifth new ship to come under Jadrolinija flag in the last four years.

It really is difficult to avoid blue-striped Jadrolinija ships along the Croatian coast. They bring much joy to all those wishing to visit some of over a thousand magical islands of Croatia. Here's to Tkon's smooth sailing!

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ZAGREB, 11 March, 2021 - The Jadrolinija shipping company added the 54th vessel to its fleet on Thursday - a ferry with a capacity of 600 passengers and 140 vehicles, the company announced in a press release.

The Lošinj ferry, built by the Kraljevica shipyard, will operate between Lopar on the island of Rab and Valbiska on the island of Krk in the northern Adriatic.

The vessel is 97.85 metres long and 15 metres wide and develops a speed of 13 knots.

CEO David Sopta said that fleet development was the most important point in Jadrolinija's development strategy over the last four years. He added that renewing the fleet was necessary for the company to maintain its leading position in the Adriatic and to provide islanders with a more comfortable service. 

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Something new is on the cards for the very beginning of next month in time for the height of the tourist season for those wanting a direct line from Split Airport to Bol on the nearby island of Brač, the third largest island in Croatia.

As Morski writes on the 17th of May, 2019, as of the 1st of June 2019 to the 15th of September 2019, the new fast-freight company Adriatic Fast Ferries d.o.o. will introduce a fast-freight line four times a day from Split Airport to Bol on the central Dalmatian island of Brač. There will be two direct connections and two lines which will head to Bol via Split's busy ferry port.

The direct connection will take one hour from Split Airport to Bol, and the line which will stop at Split's ferry port will take an hour and twenty minutes. There will be three lines in place from Bol to Split per day, according to a report from the local portal Bol info.

Unlike for other ferries and connections, tickets for this new line can only be purchased online at the ship's website.

The catamaran for this line was built back in 1999 at the FBM Marine Ltd shipyard and was purchased from the English company Red Jet. The catamaran is 33 metres long and has a capacity of 190 passengers.

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As Morski writes on the 21st of March, 2019, the first conference regarding the construction of a brand new ferry dock in the port of Kaprije has been held at Šibenik's city hall, handled by the Port Authority of Šibenik-Knin County.

The total value of the island's ferry dock project currently stands at over 11 million kuna, of which 9.3 million kuna is being financed by European Union funds, 1.6 million kuna is being co-financed by the Croatian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, head by Oleg Butković, while the Port Authority of Šibenik-Knin County is participating in the project with a bit more than 42,000 kuna.

The details of the new Kaprije project were presented to those gathered by the director of the competent port authority, Željko Dulibić, who pointed out that the new pier will be 55 meters long, with a surface measurement of 330 square metres, and will allow for vessels with deeper beams that are less susceptible to the impact of winds to dock, and so that the island of Kaprije's inhabitants will be better connected to the mainland.

The location on which the ferry dock is set to be constructed is located in an area which is managed by by the Port Authority of Šibenik-Knin County and is located about 700 metres northwest of the centre of Kaprije.

The main objectives of the project are to improve the traffic connections of the island of Kaprije with the mainland City of Šibenik and the other islands which belong to the Šibenik archipelago, improve traffic safety within the centre of the bay and Kaprije, improve the access of Kaprije's residents to their respective workplaces, education facilities, medical facilities and other such locations which typically lie on the mainland, and reduce traffic congestion and noise as well as aim to improve overall traffic safety within the centre of the bay and Kaprije.

The current foreseen deadline for the completion of this infrastructure project is summer 2020.

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As Morski writes on the 21st of March, 2019, a session of the Municipal Council of Vela Luka on the island of Korčula was attended by the county's deputy prefect Joško Cebalo, who expressed the wider county's support for all of the innovative projects currently being prepared and implemented by the municipality, which are aided by EU funds.

''This time especially, I'd like to emphasise sincere congratulations to all of the employees of Vela Luka's home for the elderly for the municipal award that will be given to them today,'' Joško Cebalo stated, adding that the project of energy renovation for the home, which is worth more than four million kuna, will soon begin.

Port infrastructure is still seen as a top priority for Vela Luka. Deputy Prefect Cebalo stressed the fact that this issue really is a matter over which the county's administration is continuing to take care and that one of its main priorities is the continued renewal and further construction of Vela Luka's highly important port infrastructure.

According to him, the county is currently preparing as many as eight projects worth over 500 million kuna in total, and the most important for Vela Luka's residents were highlighted, these include the construction of a new ferry-passenger terminal worth 60 million kuna, which should be implemented this year, and the project of the construction of a fishing port, for which the project documentation is currently being prepared.

''As the completion of the construction of Pelješac bridge will be the symbol of the first decade of Croatia's membership of the European Union, these two projects in Vela Luka will symbolise [our] development thanks to EU funds, as well as our care for the islands,'' concluded Vela Luka's deputy prefect.

Make sure to stay up to date on the construction of infrastructure in Vela Luka and far beyond by following our dedicated lifestyle and business pages. If it's just the island of Korčula you're interested in, give Total Korčula a follow.

Bojan Purić writes for the Otoci.net website about the exciting event that took place during the night of Friday to Saturday, February 9th to 10th this year: various circumstances led to a baby born on ferry between the islands of Krk and Cres!

Life on the islands in Croatia is wonderful, almost idyllic, with amazing scenery, peace and quiet throughout most of the year etc., but when it happens that you need urgent medical assistance in February, it's possible that things just might go a bit wrong. The pregnant lady on Cres got into labour on the Friday night, and the original plan was for helicopter transport to be organized, to take her to Rijeka on time to have her deliver the baby in the hospital. Unfortunately, for reasons that are still unknown, that couldn't be organized on time, so the crew of the Ilovik ferry (which spends the night at Cres anyway) organized the special run for the mother-to-soon-be, but the baby was in a big rush to come out, and was born halfway between Cres and Krk islands. 

So, it was nowhere close to the Rijeka hospital, where the mother and the baby were consequently transported once they reached Krk. There's no indication that the mother had any medical help with her, but supposedly everything went well for both of them.

We congratulate the happy parents for their newest addition to the family, and although things went well this time, hope that this doesn't happen again soon: babies should be born in hospitals, not on ferries. We also hope that the parents will take this amazing opportunity to name the baby born on ferry Adrian or Adriana (variants of which are common Croatian names), as there probably isn't a more appropriate name for a child born - on the Adriatic sea!

As Morski writes on the 19th of January, 2019, solving island ferry connections in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, especially the fast-freight and ferry connections for Vela Luka in Korčula and Lastovo, was the subject of a meeting initiated by the parliamentary representative Branko Bačić with the heads of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

County Prefect Nikola Dobroslavić initially emphasised the problems of the lack of appropriate vessels, praised the upcoming investments in port infrastructure, and seized the opportunity to discuss the upcoming daily connection between Dubrovnik and the island of Lastovo.

''Dubrovnik-Neretva County has already prepared eight funding projects from EU funds, ie through the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, and this is a great success. As far as boat connections are concerned, they're better than they were before, but there are still faults to be found. The priority is to connect Lastovo with the county centre of Dubrovnik. This is a project that should have been realised a long time ago, but it's positive that we're finally close to sorting it out,'' said the prefect, adding that everything should be done to make sure that children from Lastovo can keep going to high school in their county, more precisely on Korčula, and that the construction of pupil accommodation on Korčula is something that is indispensable. He stressed that a decision to co-finance the project should be made at the upcoming session of the Croatian Government in Dubrovnik.

Parliamentary Representative Branko Bačić said that he initiated this meeting in order to reach an agreement between Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, and Jadrolinija for the drafting of a better connection between the southern Dalmatian islands of Korčula and Lastovo, and to find a solution for the ferry service for the Split - Ubli line.

"We have to consider all the possibilities, and I still think the most realistic option is to purchase a ship of a higher capacity and a higher speed than the ships we've been using so far on that line, and to do that for as long as we don't manage to build a new ship,'' Bačić said.

The managing director of Jadrolinija announced that the company intends to purchase a second-hand ship, that there is a possibility that they still need to run some checks on, but that he wanted to hear from the representatives of the islands or the local self-government unit.

The Mayor and those from the administration, as well as participants of the meeting agreed that the purchase of a ship was the only realistic possibility at this time, as well as to take on the construction of a new ship for that line. They also demanded that the Jelena catamaran be permanently left to operate on the Split - Ubli line.

The director of the coastal maritime transport agency, Paula Vidović, stressed that maintaining the line for Lastovo at an annual level costs about 41 million kuna out of the total cost of maintaining all the lines, which amounts to about 320 million kuna.

Four major conclusions were agreed upon at the meeting:

1. It is necessary that Jadrolinija immediately looks to purchase a ship for the Split-Vela Luka-Lastovo line and continues to build a new ship for the same line.

2. There is full support for the construction of eight local and county-level ports in the area of ​​Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

3. It was established that the Jelena catamaran, which has all of the necessary maritime capabilities alone, is permanently kept on the Split-Vela Luka-Lastovo line.

4. It is also necessary to turn the Dubrovnik-Lastovo line, for which the Government has already given its consent, into an everyday route to ensure a better connection between Lastovo with the centre of the county, and so that secondary school students from Lastovo can continue to attend secondary school on the island of Korčula.

Follow our lifestyle page for more. If it's just Dubrovnik and southern Dalmatian you're interested in, give Total Dubrovnik and Total Korcula a follow.

The catamaran belonging to the Šibenik-based company Envira d.o.o., which should have been connecting Zadar, Šibenik and Split since April the 1st, is set to remain firmly in the harbour, at least for this season.

As Morski writes on the 24th of January, 2019, and as the coastal shipping agency posted on January the 17th on its website, Envira d.o.o. stated that it was unfortunately unable to realise its initial intention to maintain a fast boat line without a public service obligation (implying seasonal lines) on the Split-Šibenik-Zadar route and vice-versa from April to October 2019.

As the competent state agency states, during this year, Envira d.o.o. has announced the continuation of preparatory actions for the acquisition of a vessel with the aim of realising a fast boat line connecting Zadar, Šibenik and Split, therefore covering three counties. The realisation of such preparations for this season at least, appears to be farfetched and has already been written off as a resounding no.

The plans were, and as far as we're aware still are, for the vessel to travel from Split to Šibenik and Zadar every single day from April the 1st to October the 31st. The catamaran would sail from Split to Šibenik at 09:00, at 10:35, continuing on to Zadar, where it would arrive at 12:40. It would then sail from Zadar to Šibenik at 17:30 and then from Šibenik to Split at 19:35, with an expected arrival time of 21:10.

According to the published price list, the longest route which is from Split to Zadar, will cost 158 kuna, while the route from Split to Šibenik and from Šibenik to Zadar will cost 110 kuna.

All this seems, at least for this season, to have well and truly fallen into the water (no pun intended), and it remains to be seen whether or not Envira will be able to provide an appropriate ship for such journeys by next year.

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Good news for the residents of the island of Zlarin, located near the historic city of Šibenik in Dalmatia as a longtime desire of the island's locals is finally fulfilled.

As Morski writes on the 6th of January, 2019, Zlarin's permanent inhabitants have at least one less problem with the turning of the brand new year. As they state from Zlarin's local committee, after one hundred years of pleading with the powers that be, Zlarin's residents have finally had their wish granted, in the form of an additional ferry service which will operate on Sundays and during holidays.

"After one hundred years of pleading for this, we've now got an additional [ferry] line on Sundays and holidays which goes from Vodice at 15:00 to Prvić and Zlarin at 15:35, and then goes to Šibenik. Thank you very much to the cities of Šibenik and Vodice for their help, and to our colleagues from the local committees in Prvić for their very pleasant cooperation with us. And a huge thanks to our member of the local board, Katarina Gregov, on this sacrificial work, because had she not put her foot down as much as she did, we'd certainly not be hearing anything about this ferry line,'' they state from Zlarin's local committee via Facebook.

An additional 55,000 kuna was set aside for Zlarin's additional ferry line from the urban budget of the City of Vodice for 2019. On Sundays, the ferry line will run until the June 16th and then again from August the 26th through to the very end of the year. Unfortunately for many locals from Vodice, as well as visitors to that destination, the Sunday ferry line will not be in operation during the summer from June the 17th to August the 25th, according to a report from local portal Info Vodice.

The good news which came after this announcement was perhaps best summed up by local woman from Zlarin who simply wrote: ''Now I can come and go''.

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New ferry lines are always needed, and it's one of the top complaints of Croatia's permanent island inhabitants, as the availability of their connection to the mainland is often governed too much by the tourist season. Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has decided to introduce a new Croatian ferry line which will connect the Municipality of Lopar and Baška, located on the nearby island of Krk.

As Morski writes on the 30th of November, 2018, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has launched a welcome new ferry connection between Baska and Lopar, and the move was announced Primorje-Gorski Kotar County's deputy prefect, Marina Medarić.

Novi List reported that she spoke to the press on the matter and stated that the proposal for confirming the establishment of a year-round ferry connection which will cover the line of Baška-Lopar-Baška, will be one of the points of the County Assembly session this week.

The initiative was initiated by the Krk Harbour County Administration, and so far, the plans are for the connection to run once weekly during the more sparse winter months, twice weekly during the pre-season, and in the very height of the summer season, as many as four times per week.

If the County Assembly approves the proposal, the procedure of a public tender will be launched, where all interested shipping companies who desire to carry out the activity of this line will be able to make their interests known and submit their bids.

Make sure to keep up with our travel and news pages for more information on any other new Croatian ferry line, as well as for all the goings on from up and down the country, from continent to coast.

Click here for the original article by Tihana Tomicic for Novi List