Source: Nacional/Navigare
We bring you an article that was published almost two years ago, in May 2023, by Nacional’s Navigare, in which our captain Duje Mladin spoke about the challenges faced by shipowners at the time. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed significantly to this day!
Small Croatian shipowners with a representative fleet of vessels for multi-day cruises or one-day excursions greatly enrich nautical tourism and make a significant contribution to the entire tourism industry. According to data collected by the Croatian Association of Private Shipowners, small shipowners own 442 vessels and generate an annual gross turnover of 318.5 million euros. Of this amount, 143.2 million euros refers to gross turnover of shipowners, then 93.8 million euros to travel agency turnover and 81.5 million euros to non-boarding consumption of guests. In addition, small shipowners annually pay 21.1 million euros in VAT to the state budget, and 3.8 million euros for profit tax, while they allocate 5.2 million euros for taxes and contributions for employees.
Types of vessels
There are three types of vessels owned by small shipowners – 224 mini-cruisers for multi-day cruises, 128 passenger ships for one-day excursions and 29 yachts with professional crews. The total number of accommodation units, or cabins, is 4,056, with 8,350 beds. The capacity of excursion ships is 12,385 places. The shipowner is also the shipowner, the crew regularly includes members of the shipowner’s family, their ships simultaneously provide tourist and catering services and passenger transport, and as many as 95 percent of their guests come from abroad – from Brazil, South Africa, China to Australia and New Zealand. The most common are mini-cruisers, which, depending on the size and interior and exterior design and the category of service, can accommodate from 20 to 36 guests. They are produced in Croatian shipyards and are a domestic product, and the crews employed on them are domestic.
In the last 10 years, 100 new cruise ships have been built
In the last ten years, 100 new mini-cruisers with an average length of 47 meters have been built in Croatian shipyards, and the average investment per vessel (design, construction and equipment) ranged from two and a half to three million euros. This construction became particularly intensive from 2017 to 2019, when 49 new luxury floating hotels were built in Croatia, all of which speaks in favor of the fact that mini-cruisers have become a recognizable brand of Croatian nautical tourism. The Croatian Association of Private Shipowners says that the state has encouraged them to build ships and promised them that it will invest in the expansion of existing ports and the construction of new ones.
They built the ships, but the construction of the ports is delayed, which is a big problem for them today because the ports can no longer accommodate so many ships. They add that they build the ships because they are jobs for them and their families, so that they can take care of their own jobs and invest in them, and employ a significant number of other people.
Guests
This is not easy to do because it involves large investments and long-term loans, so uncertainty is always present. And the job, although the sea has been flowing through their veins for centuries and they do it with a lot of love, is at the same time very difficult and responsible. The sea is their life, it gives a lot, but it requires great sacrifices. Small shipowners are proud because they dock their ships all over the Adriatic every day, and bring thousands of guests with more purchasing power to all island towns, especially the smaller ones.
They bring guests for wine tastings, excursions, visits to local OPGs, bike tours, sightseeing of cultural heritage, and in the evenings to cafes and restaurants. Therefore, they warn that if there is a reduction in berths in ports, which is being considered recently, many tour guides, winemakers and restaurants will be left without jobs, as well as museums and other cultural heritage sites without income.
The nautical season lasts 23 weeks.
Navigare opened the nautical season with a cruise in the northern Adriatic, in Kvarner and its islands. The first destination, and also the starting port, was Opatija, and then we sailed to Rab and Krk. Our host was the mini cruiser Aquamarin, owned by the Mladin family from Krilo Jesenice. Aquamarin is a deluxe category cruiser, built in 2017 in the Brodosplit shipyard and is commanded by Duje Mladin, who became a captain at the age of 25.
“Aquamarin is 43 meters long and 8 meters wide, we have 18 cabins and can accommodate 36 guests. Its value is around five million euros. This is a family business, I and my younger brother are on board, and if necessary, my mother or my wife also steps in to help. In addition to Aquamarin, we own another cruiser, the Admiral, which is operated by my father and older brother. My father is the head of our entire business, he is the boss, and we have a total of 16 employees, including us.
I hope this year will be even better than 2019, and we already have a lot of inquiries for 2024. Everything has become a little more expensive, such as fuel, groceries, berths in ports, but ‘whatever’, what’s there is, it has become more expensive for everyone. We set off on our first tour this year on April 17th from Baška on Krk, carrying cyclists, participants in the World Mountain Bike Race. Our full season lasts 23 weeks, from mid-April to mid-October, and a good season is when the ship is full non-stop,” Captain Duje Mladin tells Navigare.
Boats need to be “sanded” before the season
Before the start of the new season, the ship needs to be well prepared – ‘‘painted’’, as Duje says. “The ship needs to be painted, we do it for three months, and some even for the whole winter. All the wood on the ship needs to be sanded and varnished twice a year. If something needs to be repaired, we bring in craftsmen to do it. Once a year, the ship has to be taken out to dry to wash, sand and varnish the bottom. This can take about ten days. We sail all over the Adriatic, from Opatija to Dubrovnik.
“We even go as far as Metković and Krk. Most of our guests are foreigners who come from all continents – from the USA, South Africa, Australia, England, sometimes a group from Brazil and even China comes. The safety of our guests is our top priority, everything here revolves around the guest, the guest comes first and we do everything to make them feel safe and comfortable,” says Duje.
The ports are too small to accommodate
Duje also confirmed that the ports have become too small to accommodate the large number of cruise ships that have been built in the last ten years. “There are a lot of us and the ports have become too cramped, so sometimes we can’t all fit into the port that is on our cruise program that day. For example, when the port of Hvar is full and only accepts twenty ships, we have to combine and change the schedule and go to Vis, and go to Hvar the next day. But that can be very complicated and difficult because it’s not just about changing the route, but also changing the program for the guests. The activities for the guests are organized in advance for a certain day and then the guides, wine tastings, etc. have to be re-coordinated…
Godinama nam obećavaju da će proširiti postojeće i izgraditi nove luke, no od toga do danas nismo ništa vidjeli. I lukama je u interesu da se što više razvedu jer će dolaziti više turista koji će više i potrošiti. Kad dovedemo gosta u Korčulu, Hvar ili Vis, on će tamo pojesti večeru, popit će piće, kupit će vino, maslinovo ulje ili suvenir. Stoga je i njima u interesu na nas što više dođe jer onda svi rade, od Lučke uprave do ugostitelja, a država ubire više PDV-a”, naglasio je Duje Mladin.
Nautical tourism agencies and communities
Ivana Matušan, director of the Tourist Board of the Town of Rab, tells Navigare that there are a number of family-owned moorings in Rab, which are slowly preparing to be formed into a new marina. “This would make us very happy because the marinas we currently have are not sufficient for our boaters and the concessionaire should invest in them further, modernize them and give them a new shine. Boaters who have their own vessel usually see it as their second home and want someone to take care of it properly, and private family moorings offer exactly that. We have excellent tourists who have good purchasing power and really like coming to Rab. A significant number of boaters have decided to buy or build a house on Rab, which means that they really like life on Rab. All of this contributes to extending the tourist season for several months,” Ivana Matušan pointed out.
The Director of the Tourist Board of the Town of Krk, Ivana Kovačić, points out to Navigare that Krk has been hosting numerous cruises on the northern part of the Adriatic for years. “We have an extremely good cooperation with tour operators who organize this form of nautical tourism. Cruises on mini cruisers are extremely popular because you can experience a certain destination in a quality way, get to know its historical and cultural heritage and enjoy the top-notch gastronomic offer. In the pre- and post-season, these are mainly tours that include cyclists and walkers, i.e. an active form of vacation. Nautical tourism means a lot to the Town of Krk and I believe that it will gain even more importance in the coming years. Marina Punat contributes to this in particular, but all the other smaller ports on the island of Krk are also extremely attractive. The latest major investment is in the port in Baška, which is also turning towards nautical tourism,” said Ivana Kovačić.
Katarina Line
Of the total fleet of 224 mini cruisers, about fifty are on annual or multi-year charter with the Katarina Line agency. “Our agency charters ships on a full-for-empty basis and we guarantee them jobs throughout the entire nautical season. Between 50 and 55 mini cruisers cruise under the Katarina Line flag every year. The first departures this year were on April 15th, and we will end on October 28th. A large number of guests come on seven-day cruises to Croatia and they are in a different port every day. We arrive in the port in the early afternoon and the guests go out to restaurants and cafes, and they are also big consumers outside the ship.
“Before the coronavirus, we had around 35,000 guests, and this year we hope to reach that number. A lot of young people go on cruises, especially young Australians and New Zealanders, and this form of nautical tourism is increasingly returning to us after the coronavirus. Guests with higher purchasing power come to higher-category ships, deluxe and deluxe superior, and 80 percent of the guests are foreign guests,” Sanja Nekić Laginja, head of the cruise department, told Navigare.
