Training ship "Queen of the Sea" arrived in its home port

The first training ship in the independent Republic of Croatia, named "Queen of the Sea", which is intended for students of the maritime training schools, and for students of the maritime faculties, has arrived today in its home port.

Due to the Maritime Code the Croatian Government has adopted a new Maritime Policy Reform in 2007th, thus began the reform of all seafarers, which includes all Croatian mariners in the Pension and Health-care System, said capt. Mario Babic, State Secretary for the Sea, at a ceremony in the city port of Dubrovnik.

Scholarships of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure currently receives about 600 students, the future seafarers, said capt. Babic recalling that the Government decided to build a school ship three years ago.

Sail of the "Queen of the Sea" school ship into the Dubrovnik port was welcomed by the Prefect of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Nikola Dobroslavic who donated the coat of arms of the Dubrovnik county to the ship's captain, while the Dubrovnik's Mayor Andro Vlahusic donated the flag of Saint Vlaho to Kresimir Bosanac, the captain of the ship.

Vice-Rector of the University of Dubrovnik, Vesna Vrtiprah, and the Director of the Maritime-technical School, Tomislav Vitkovic stressed out the importance of this school-ship for the acquisition of the practical knowledge of the future seafarers. University's board donated the coat of arms of the Town of Dubrovnik, while the Maritime-technical donated the statue of St. Vlaho.

Only the highley-educated sailor can be competitive in the demanding global market, said Vice-rector Vrtiprah, while Vitkovic aimed that the building of the first school training vessel called as the pinnacle of the education and trainning for the sailors, who are already known and recognized throughout the world.

Motor sailboat ship "Queen of the Sea" is 37 million HRK worth, and has been built in the "Montmontaza-Greben" shipyard in Vela Luka, according to the Naval Institute's Project, while the construction supervision and certification was carried out by the Croatian Register of Shipping.

The school-ship has length of a 35 meters, and can accommodate up to 28 students, 4 teachers and has 7 crew members. In the words of the State Secretary for the Sea, is scheduled that the ship annually is about 35 weeks in use, according to consultation with the schools and colleges.

The students of the Maritime Department of the University of Dubrovnik as the first ones tomorrow will be able to feel the true magic of the sea, while on Monday, the April 12th two groups with 30 students of the Maritime-technical School from Dubrovnik will be on-board.

The school boat will be open for visits of the citizens on Saturday and Sunday, April 10 and 11, at the Port of Gruz.