Croatia's state-owned ferry company is about to drop serious cash on getting its boat situation sorted out. The government plans to grab somewhere between 10 and 20 new ships over the next few years, and the whole thing will run around 200 million euros. State officials made it clear that keeping island communities alive depends entirely on having solid ferry service, since those people can't just hop in a car and drive to the mainland whenever they need groceries or medical care.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs is working with the World Bank to figure out exactly how many ferries versus other vessel types they actually need. They want everything running on green energy instead of regular fuel, which tracks with the whole environmental push happening across Europe. Japan's ambassador even mentioned that his country might chip in to help fund parts of the project, and the World Bank guy said they've already helped modernize a couple of Croatian ports before.
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs is working with the World Bank to figure out exactly how many ferries versus other vessel types they actually need. They want everything running on green energy instead of regular fuel, which tracks with the whole environmental push happening across Europe. Japan's ambassador even mentioned that his country might chip in to help fund parts of the project, and the World Bank guy said they've already helped modernize a couple of Croatian ports before.
