Pula (Croatia)

Port Pula (Croatia) is located at the southern tip of Istria peninsula. The city covers a total area of 52 km2 (20 ml2) and has population around 60,000. The region is well known for its smooth sea, mild climate and unspoiled nature. It has a long tradition of shipbuilding, fishing, winemaking, tourism.

Pula is best known for its surviving ancient Roman buildings. City's 1st-century amphitheatre (locally known as the Arena) is the most famous of them and is among the world's 6 largest surviving Roman arenas. The Arena is one of the best preserved amphitheatres and is still in use during summer film festivals. 

The natural beauty of the surrounding countryside and crystal clear water of the Adriatic Sea have made the city of Pula a world popular summer holiday destination. The nearby pearl is Brioni island. Brijuni national park has been visited by many world leaders since it was summer residence of the Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman, Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980). Roman temples and villas still lie buried in farm fields as well as along the shoreline of dozens of surrounding farming and fishing villages. The coastal waters of Pula offer fishing, beaches, cliff diving, wreck dives to Roman galleys and WWI warships, and sailing to unspoiled islands and coves.

Pula is the end point of EuroVelo 9 cycle route running from Gdansk on the Baltic through Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia. It is also possible to track dinosaur footprints on nearby sea shores. Certain finds have been made at undisclosed location close to Bale. Passenger ferries operate from the port area of Pula to nearby islands, as well as to Venice and Trieste from June until September.

Uljanik Shipyard  (Pula)

Uljanik Shipyard is located on a small island in Pula Bay. It was founded in 1856 (on Dec 9) as facility serving the Austro-Hungarian Navy fleet. The foundation stone date ranks the shipyard one of the world's oldest stoll in operation.

• In October 1858 was launched the yard's first vessel - SMS Kaiser. During its Austro-Hungarian Empire history, the shipyard produced 55 navy vessels with total DWT 53,588 tons.
• Between 1918-1943, while under Italian control, the yard specialized in shiprepairs and dismantling / cutting of old ships.
• Since 1947, when Croatia was part of Yugoslavia, the yard was renovated and continued with ship reconstruction and repairs.
• Its firt newbuild was delivered in 1951.
• Between 1972-1976, here were constructed 11 vessels. The largest were Tarfala (DWT 275,000 tons) and Kanchenjunga (DWT 277,120 tons).
• In 1998, the shipyard became a joint-stock company.
• Between 1947-1998, the yard produced a total of 194 vessels, with total DWT over 6 million tons.
• Here are designed and constructed various types of marine vessels, including gas and opil tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, dredgers, Ro-Ro ships, car carriers, passenger ships (cruise and ferries).
• Croatia's second largest shipyard is Viktor Lenac Shipyard (in Rijeka).
• In mid-January 2018, the Uljanik shipyard (in Pula, Croatia) building the 228-passenger Scenic Eclipse cruise ship was reportedly in financial difficulties and its employees haven't been paid for months. The Croatian government offered to guarantee an EUR 96 million loan to the shipyard in order to allow 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 the shipyard to stay operational 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.

On March 31, 2018, was announced that shipyard's new strategic partner (majority ownership) is Danko Koncar-owned company Kermas Energija. Following the government bailout, the yard received 3 tender bids (Kermas Energija, DIV / Brodosplit shipyard owner, and Asian Bond Ventures). Danko Koncar also owns Brodotrogir shipyard (Trogir, Croatia).

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 full orderbook, but not much improvements. The yard is old and remained antiquated, despite its vessels' fine quality. There were speculations about Scenic Eclipse ship's delay. There were also concerns about the ordered sistership (Scenic Eclipse II, scheduled delivery 2020) from the 3 Maj Shipyard (Rijeka, Croatia).

In May 2019, in Croatia arrived officials from CSIC (China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation) to meet with country's Prime Minister (Andrej Plenkovic) and Uljanik Shipyard's executives and discuss shipyard's acquisition. Other potential buyers are Brodosplit (Croatia) and Fincantieri (Italy).