The Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and Development presented in Dubrovnik on Tuesday the country"s pre-accession maritime strategy, with emphasis on the protection of the Adriatic Sea.
The strategy, which consists of four sections, focuses on the position of seamen, the shipping industry, ports and navigation security.
Presenting the strategy, the state secretary in charge of the sea, Branko Bačić, said Croatia"s economy was based on the tradition of Dubrovnik"s shipping industry, which was the world"s third largest shipping industry in the 16th century, with a fleet of 200 ships and 5000 seamen.
The shipping industry accounts for USD 380 billion from carriage or five percent of the global trade, with the world fleet consisting of 46.222 ships.
The Croatian register of ships contains 1575 ships and the yacht and boat registers 102.916 vessels, the ports" total revenue amounts to HRK 552 million, and the Croatian shipbuilding industry is the world"s sixth shipbuilding industry, Bačić said.
A total of 187 ships owned by 14 Croatian companies, which are members of the "Mare Nostrum" association, sail international waters and 31 Croatian ships sail under foreign flags.
In the last two years, USD 410 million was invested in the construction of 22 ships and contracts on the construction of another 15 ships worth USD 500 million were signed.
This year, Croatian ferries have transported ten million passengers and more than three million vehicles. The country"s fishing fleet has 3700 ships.
The state plans to invest some 600 million euros into six ports which are of special importance for the national economy - Rijeka, Zadar, Šibenik, Split, Ploče and Dubrovnik - and 42 county and 285 local ports.
The presentation of the pre-accession maritime strategy was attended by maritime experts from Adriatic countries - Italy, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, and Serbia and Montenegro, as well as by representatives of the European Commission, Malta, international financial institutions, the maritime industry and experts from Croatia. (Hina)
Pre-Accession Maritime Strategy / 
presentation