Scenic Eclipse 2 accidents and incidents

January 2018Other Incidents

In mid-January 2018, the Uljanik Shipyard in Pula, Croatia (while building the sistership Scenic Eclipse) was reportedly in financial difficulties and its employees haven't been paid for months.

There were speculations about Scenic cruise yacht's delay. There were also concerns about the 2nd ordered yacht (Scenic Eclipse II) from the Maj shipyard in Rijeka Croatia.

The Croatian government offered to guarantee a EUR 96 million loan to the shipyard as restructuring aid. The proposal was subject to European Commission approval. On January 23, 2018, the EUR 96 million state guarantee from the government was approved by the European Commission. The loan helped Uljanik shipyard to stay operational (meeting urgent liquidity needs) and complete its newbuilding projects (all new cruise vessels on order and under construction). EU's conditions for the state aid included finding a foreign investor.

In 2017, the shipyard received restructuring aid as part of the accession of Croatia to the European Union. However, the shipyard used most of the money to lower its shipbuilding prices. This led to a full order book, but not many improvements. The yard is old and remained antiquated, despite its vessels' fine quality.

On March 26, 2019, 12 former Uljanik Shipyard top-level executives were arrested by Croatia’s anti-corruption investigation agency and charged with fraud. Reportedly, the yard lost approx EUR 160 million (USD 67,5m) during its restructuring in 2012-2013. March 2019 was marked by several shipyard strikes due to unpaid 7-month salaries. During the strikes, outside contractors were allowed to work on Scenic Eclipse 1.