ZAGREB, 15 Sept, 2021 - The San Pelagio port, a new, HRK 53.4 million (€7.12 million) investment in the northern Adriatic city of Rovinj, which is expected to relieve the burden on the Andana port in the city centre, was opened on Wednesday.

The new port is intended exclusively for personal vessels up to eight metres in length, the Rovinj Port Authority said.

Port Authority head Donald Schiozzi said the new port was being opened ahead of 16 September, the Day of the City of Rovinj and its patron saint, St. Euphemia.

Mayor Marko Paliaga recalled that construction work on the new port started in late 2019, noting that currently more than 1,000 smaller vessels are registered in the city.

The largest part of the investment was contributed by Rovinj and its port authority, HRK 8.5 million was contributed by the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure while Istria County participated with HRK 1.6 million.

Josip Bilaver, State Secretary at the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and the government's envoy at the inauguration of the port, said the government had recognised the importance of investing in port infrastructure and would continue with such projects.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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ZAGREB, Aug 10, 2020 - Adriatic port authorities'  interventions have been halved compared with last year, and considering the fact that traffic has been reduced by 30% we are satisfied with the situation regarding safety, state secretary in the Ministry of the Sea and Transport, Josip Bilaver, said on Monday in Zadar.

He underlined that the most common offenses on the sea were related to speeding boats being closer to the shore than 300 metres.

"We are in particular warning them to take note of swimmers and to not sail within less than 300 metres from the shore because this is where the most accidents occur. We inspect all vessels on the sea to see if they are in a proper condition and if their documents are valid. We want to call for responsibility by all participants and to point out the need for education and warn them about the things they need to check and that their vessels are in proper order, to check weather conditions and the like," said Bilaver

He added that it was impossible for port authorities to be present on all the islands, every beach. every inlet at the same time, "That is why we caution speed boat drivers and jet skiers to keep away from the shore because we have seen that the most accidents occur due to jet skiers of speed boats running into divers, swimmers, and others," he said.