At the Brodosplit shipyard, a train recently arrived carrying a composition of wagons filled with ship plates, which in itself is not unusual as Brodosplit is connected to the whole of Europe by railway. However, this is the first consignment of plates arriving by train after the coronavirus and disruptions in supply chains caused by the pandemic. Previously, the plates were transported by ships and trucks, but due to increased workload, the plates were ordered from the renowned metallurgical giant Makstil, formerly known as the Željezara Skopje, which was the only factory for plate production in the former state and supplied all Croatian shipyards.
The plates are intended for the reconstruction of a car and container transport ship recently located at Brodosplit. In recent years, the Split shipyard has completed several successful projects in ship repair.
Shifting focus to repairs is not a strategic directive of Brodosplit, but an opportunity to utilize capacities and strengthen the shipyard, after production was halted for a year due to force majeure as a consequence of the war in Ukraine. Ship reconstruction is a significant undertaking, sometimes even more demanding than building a ship, primarily because completion deadlines are extremely important. The burnt section will be replaced with new steel. These are not ordinary routine repairs but rather complex and demanding tasks. The advantage of repairs is a shorter production cycle, and advance guarantees are not required for them. Additionally, the shipyard is intensifying its involvement in offshore projects, where several deliveries have already been made, and this part is now being strengthened with new projects.
Currently, there are just under 1,000 people working at Brodosplit, and we have continuously open new job postings. When the war started in Ukraine, and the financing agreed with the German-owned VTB, owned by a Russian bank, fell through, the company found itself in a big problem, from which an alternative financing arrangement was found with an American fund, so the projects awaiting completion were the first to start.
The most important project is the second coastal patrol vessel for which a Contract Amendment was signed on March 14, 2024, regulating the completion of construction and a new delivery deadline for the first of a total of four remaining ships.
On the list of unfinished projects is a polar cruiser, newbuilding 485, which is 90 percent complete, 108 meters long, for 200 passengers.
Also on the list of unfinished projects is a 'zero-emission' three-masted sailing ship with zero exhaust emissions, for 36 passengers, as well as an unmanned vessel, for which aluminum processing has begun, and the long-awaited start of construction of a multi-purpose tourist and research submarine. All three projects are co-financed with funds under the call 'Increasing the development of new products and services resulting from research and development activities (IRI) - phase II from EU funds.
Design work is underway for the needs of the mega-project - a residential ship (with apartments) named Narrative for the investor Storylines, in which Brodosplit participates with a significant share. The ship is complex, with LNG propulsion, and Brodosplit's intention as a builder should generate new employment.
Namely, at least two thousand people would be needed, but such a large project provides the opportunity to allocate parts of the work to other shipyards. It is a higher level of cooperation than traditional cooperation, or a business in which other Croatian shipyards could also benefit. So far, the shipbuilding contract for this mega job has been recently renewed but has not yet come into force, although project development activities and design are intensively underway within Brodosplit's design department.