ZAGREB, 26 March 2022 - Croatia is considering the possibility of increasing the capacity of its LNG terminal on the island of Krk from the current 2.6 billion cubic metres of gas to 2.9 billion cubic metres annually, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said in Brussels on Friday.

He explained that the current infrastructure allows for this increase.

"We believe that we can achieve this increase with the current infrastructure of our LNG ship and all the existing plants there," Plenković said after the end of the two-day summit meeting of the European Union, which discussed Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, energy and energy price hikes.

Plenković reiterated the strategic importance of the Krk LNG terminal for the diversification of gas supply routes, particularly in the current crisis.

Considering the EU-US partnership expressed in the Joint Statement on the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports from the US, which expect to rise, Plenković said that investments in LNG terminals and the accompanying infrastructure would definitely grow, adding that it remains to be seen how many ships are available.

Ukrainian refugees

Plenković told the press that Croatia had already taken in 10,000 refugees from Ukraine, who fled the Russian invasion of their country.

It is certain that more and more refugees will arrive and that they will stay longer, he said.

Croatia can cover the costs of accommodation of Ukrainian refugees on its own until a joint model for financing is not found at the EU level, the premier said.

October 27, 2021 - LNG Croatia seafarers at the LNG terminal in Omišalj will need to be vaccinated with at least the first dose by November 1 this year. 

Index.hr reports that LNG Croatia seafarers on board the floating unit for liquefied natural gas (FSRU) at the LNG terminal in Omišalj will have to be vaccinated if they want to continue working at the terminal, announced the Norwegian company Golar, which employs the seafarers at the LNG terminal.

Hrvoje Krhen, director of LNG Croatia, which operates the terminal, confirmed the news received from Golar.

"They must be vaccinated with the first dose of vaccine no later than November 1 this year, and the second no later than January 1 next year. Otherwise, the company will no longer guarantee them employment," Krhen said.

Only seafarers who have recovered from Covid-19 in the last six months and have a valid recovery certificate will be exempted from this obligation.

"Until now, no one without a Covid-certificate could enter the terminal, including the ship. Thus, at each boarding, seafarers also had to have a certificate that they had been vaccinated, tested negative, or displayed a certificate that they had recovered from Covid-19. This is a serious business in which we cannot risk the crew becoming infected and the supply of the natural gas market in question," Krhen told Novi list.

Mario Zorović, president of the Croatian Association of Seafarers' Employment Brokers, whose agency employs part of the ship's crew, says most large shipping companies are expected to introduce mandatory vaccination against Covid-19 soon, without which boarding will not be possible.

"So far, several large companies, such as Stena and Hoegh LNG, have introduced vaccination obligations for all their seafarers. I must point out that most seafarers have accepted the obligation to vaccinate, and a good part of them have already been vaccinated. For example, out of 200 seafarers we employ on Hoegh LNG ships, only one refused to be vaccinated," Zorović said.

There are about 17,000 Croatian seafarers in international navigation, of which as many as 77 percent are officers on ships. Just over 50 percent of them have been vaccinated against Covid-19. Still, the Association expects that number to increase significantly now that companies have started introducing mandatory vaccination as a condition for obtaining or retaining a job.

The Secretary-General of the Croatian Seafarers' Union, Neven Melvan, points out that the introduction of vaccination obligations should not be in the domain of shipping companies but should be decided at the level of the World Maritime Organization (IMO).

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