A 225-metre-long ship for the transport of bulk cargo, commissioned by Canada’s Algoma Central Corporation, was launched on Feb. 17 at Rijeka’s 3.maj shipyard, with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and numerous citizens attending the event.

The Algoma Endeavour, the longest ship launched at the Rijeka shipyard, is 23.8 metres wide and has a carrying capacity of 29,300 tonnes and it will sail in the Canadian Great Lakes. Following the bankruptcy of the Uljanik Group, this is the second vessel built by the Rijeka shipyard for Algoma (the first was the Algoma Intrepid).

Prime Minister Plenković said at the launch ceremony that this was yet another successful project implemented by the “3. maj” shipyard with strong support from the government.

The price of the ship is 31.5 million Canadian dollars, he said, adding that the government had demonstrated its trust in the project by providing loan collateral.

“The government’s position was that it should support any solution that would create conditions for the launching of production and completion of vessels under construction as well as reduce losses, which were incurred frequently before,” he said.  

He recalled that in 2019 the government decided to settle the debt of the Croatian shipyards to banks in the amount of HRK 4.5 billion (€600 million) for vessels that had not been completed.

“We decided to launch shipbuilding in a sustainable and profitable way, based on partnership. The government understood what shipbuilding at ‘3. maj’ means to Rijeka identity-wise.”.

Since then, four vessels have been launched at the shipyard, including the state-of-the-art Scenic Eclipse polar cruise ship, built in partnership with Scenic Group and MKM Yachts, he said.

“We are doing this because we take care of the Croatian industry, shipbuilding, the history of shipbuilding in Croatia, tradition and identity. Without shipbuilding, Rijeka would not be what it is,” he said.

 (Photo from 3.maj shipyard)