Adriatic Port News

Montenegro has secured 350 million euros from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Union to enhance transport connectivity within the Balkan country and with the wider region, the EBRD said in a statement on Thursday.The EBRD will provide a loan of up to 200 million euros to finance the construction of the Matesevo–Andrijevica section of the highway connecting the Adriatic port of Bar with the Serbian border, while the EU will contribute two investment grants totalling 150 million euros.Johann Sattler…

A replica Viking ship has berthed in Montenegro's Adriatic port of Bar on a years-long trip through European waters inspired by the Norse seafarers who set out from Scandinavia to explore, trade and conquer a millennium ago.The ship, Saga Farmann, is a full-size archaeological reconstruction of a 10th-century Viking cargo vessel, or knarr, made from oak and pine, which was found in Norway as early as 1893 but only excavated in the 1970s."This is the type of ship that would travel to Iceland…

The restored flagship of former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito is being converted into a hotel and a museum devoted to its turbulent history, from banana boat to meeting place for world statesmen.Berthed in Croatia’s Adriatic port of Rijeka, the Galeb (Seagull) will open to the public in its new role next year.The ship was built in 1938 in Italy to transport bananas from Africa. During World War Two, it was used first by the Italian navy and then by the Germans and it was sunk by Allied planes at the end of the war.In communist Yugoslavia, it was retrieved and converted into a yacht used by Tito for his many journeys across the globe.During that time…

The Croatian government said on Thursday it would guarantee loans of up to 150 million kuna ($23 million) to keep one of the country's biggest shipyards afloat and give it time to find a strategic long-term partner.The 3.Maj shipyard in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka is owned by Croatia's biggest shipbuilding group Uljanik whose other shipyard in the port of Pula has already been placed into bankruptcy procedure.Under EU state aid rules, the government cannot provide financial…

The Croatian government said on Thursday it would help a troubled shipyard owned by Uljanik , the country's largest shipbuilder, resume production.The government, which owns a 25% stake in Uljanik, said in March that it would not back a proposed restructuring plan for the group due to the financial burden it would place on the state.However, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Thursday that the government was willing to support 3.Maj, which is located in the northern Adriatic port of Rijeka and is one of the group's two shipyards, because it did not have as big a debt burden."Unlike Uljanik, the 3.Maj is not an overly indebted company and there is an interest in the construction of new ships…

Slovenia's Luka Koper port welcomed its largest container ship to date, as the 367 metre Gerda Maersk moored on Tuesday, just weeks after completing a long-awaited deepening of its seabed to allow larger ships to dock. The Gerda Maersk weighing 10,150 TEU - berthed there on Tuesday after another container ship - of China’s Alliance Ocean 3 - weighing 5,668 TEU, arrived in the port two days ago. Koper is currently the largest container port in the northern Adriatic. "Both alliances chose Koper for the first Adriatic port in their route, which is of utmost importance for partners in need of short transit times for their cargo travelling between Asia and Europe," Luka Koper said. Vessels of the third new container service - of Taiwan-based Evergreens - are also expected to arrive in Koper.

Two people drowned and four were missing at sea and feared dead after two merchant ships collided in rough seas off the Italian coast on Sunday, Italian officials said. A Turkish ship with 11 crew members sank after the collision with a vessel carrying a Belize flag in poor visibility a mile from the Italian Adriatic port of Ravenna, a coastguard official said. The mayor of Ravenna Fabrizio Matteucci said on Italian state television that the dead and missing were all Turkish men from the ship Gokbel which sank after the collision with the Belize-flagged Lady Aziza at around 0800 GMT. "There are two victims and four missing," he said…

Firefighters extinguished a blaze that erupted aboard a Turkish cargo ship off Croatia's coast three days ago and had raised fears of major pollution, AFP reported. A team of Dutch firefighters and their Croatian counterparts were aboard the ship to assess the situation and inspect the vessel. The Und Adriyatik ship was being kept four miles away from Croatia's northern coast by tugboats. According to reports, the Turkish company that owns the ship said the vessel was likely to be towed to the Italian Adriatic port of Trieste. The authorities said earlier the ship, which was transporting 200 trucks and nine tonnes of oil derivatives, would not be allowed to leave Croatian waters before it is completely cleaned up.

A cargo ship carrying 150 tons of marble sank off the Italian coast on Friday killing three people and leaving another missing, Reuters reported. The Nautika 64 capsized about 64 km (40 miles) from the Adriatic port of Ancona when its cargo shifted. Port authorities said they received a "May Day" call for help at 7:45 a.m. (0645 GMT) and sent boats and a helicopter to the ship, which was sailing under the Croatian flag. "The May Day was sent by one of the crew who, after finding he couldn't send it from the ship, swam to an oil platform nearby," they said. Bad weather in the Mediterranean caused problems on the west coast of Italy. A containership ran aground in high seas and heavy winds near the southwestern town of Gioia Tauro.