ZAGREB, 11 March, 2021 - Several contracts, worth 17.5 million kuna, for reconstruction of seaports and waterfronts in the broader Rijeka area were signed on Thursday by Sea and Transport Minister Oleg Butković and local authorities.

The contracts envisaging the upgrade of ports on the islands of Krk, Rab and Lošinj as well as the coastal cities of Bakar, Mošćenička Draga, Novi Vinodolski, Crikvenica and Kraljevica are part of the Croatian Coast Renaissance project in which two billion kuna has been invested to date, and the lion's share of this amount has been ensured from EU funds.

Minister Butković said today that investments in seaport infrastructure would continue.

(€1 = HRK 7.582776)

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In a sea of negative news headlines and depressing economic forecasts, some good news arrives from the Kraljevica shipyard - it is currently full of Jadrolinija vessels.

The Croatian shipbuilding industry didn't need any other knockbacks. Long before the coronavirus pandemic began, the industry had been in dire straits, needing guarantee after guarantee from the government. This ailing industry saw the strike of its unpaid and overworked staff, and the enfeebled shipyards Uljanik (Pula) and 3 Maj (Rijeka) shipyards were only ever in the press for the wrong reasons.

The coronavirus pandemic was the absolute last thing this industry needed, and yet we find ourselves in a situation in which the entire domestic economy is under threat from an invisible enemy. That being said, it isn't also so bleak, and the Kraljevica shipyard has plenty of work on its hands despite the dark days we're currently in the midst of.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of May, 2020, as many as four of Jadrolinija's vessels are currently ''housed'' at the Kraljevica shipyard. The ships in question are the catamaran "Adriana", the ferries "Mate Balota" and "Laslovo", and "Sveti Juraj" which requires some more extensive works.

After the economic downturn and the dramatic events of March 2020, followed by paralysis, deep uncertainty and fears that everything was truly about to go under over the coming months, a sigh of relief can be felt at the Kraljevica shipyard, where they're dealing with all of the ships that have come to them for various repairs, Novi List writes.

The "Faros" ferry should also have arrived from the Viktor Lenac shipyard, and in the following days, the "Cres" ferry from Losinj is also due to arrive at the Kraljevica shipyard. There are also two fishermen, the White and the Celestial, on a regular overhaul, and there is also Tito's Galeb, the upkeep of which is the subject of constant controversy, whose restoration and conversion into what has been imagined as ship-museum is also underway.

If nothing else, the uncertainty factor is now smaller, but the contours of post-coronavirus business operations, at least of some sort, are becoming mildly visible on the horizon.

Ivan Ivic, the owner of the aforementioned shipyard, made sure to note that they are still not working at full capacity, they are at a mere 75 percent, and it is quite likely that when they do the calculations at the end of this second quarter, they will be down by about 30 percent.

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It used to be a luxury yacht, but decades spent in a port in Montenegro have left their mark.

A large sum of money to change the face of the western part of Kraljevica.

The latest addition to the fleet of Rapska plovidba d.d. will help connect Rab island with the mainland

Under the arcades of the castle Novi Kraljevica, and in the framework of the cultural routes 'Path of Frankopan', commemorative ceremonies have opened the Visitor Center Kraljevica.