Bojan Purić writes for the Otoci.net website about the exciting event that took place during the night of Friday to Saturday, February 9th to 10th this year: various circumstances led to a baby born on ferry between the islands of Krk and Cres!

Life on the islands in Croatia is wonderful, almost idyllic, with amazing scenery, peace and quiet throughout most of the year etc., but when it happens that you need urgent medical assistance in February, it's possible that things just might go a bit wrong. The pregnant lady on Cres got into labour on the Friday night, and the original plan was for helicopter transport to be organized, to take her to Rijeka on time to have her deliver the baby in the hospital. Unfortunately, for reasons that are still unknown, that couldn't be organized on time, so the crew of the Ilovik ferry (which spends the night at Cres anyway) organized the special run for the mother-to-soon-be, but the baby was in a big rush to come out, and was born halfway between Cres and Krk islands. 

So, it was nowhere close to the Rijeka hospital, where the mother and the baby were consequently transported once they reached Krk. There's no indication that the mother had any medical help with her, but supposedly everything went well for both of them.

We congratulate the happy parents for their newest addition to the family, and although things went well this time, hope that this doesn't happen again soon: babies should be born in hospitals, not on ferries. We also hope that the parents will take this amazing opportunity to name the baby born on ferry Adrian or Adriana (variants of which are common Croatian names), as there probably isn't a more appropriate name for a child born - on the Adriatic sea!

The relationship between China and Croatia is continuing to grow ever closer, and bringing the Chinese to the Croatian coast is potentially just an introductory step in their much wider engagement on the development of Rijeka's traffic connections, both operationally and financially.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 14th of January, 2019, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, will travel to China later this month, where he will discuss, among other things, the opportunity for them to take the concession for a new Rijeka container terminal on the coast with Chinese shipowners and port operators, according a report from Novi list.

Butković will meet with the Chinese traffic minister, representatives of CRBC, who will build Pelješac Bridge, and will also meet with representatives of the naval giant COSCO, as well as several large Chinese shipping and port companies, the potential leasers of the container terminal on that part of the Croatian coast, for which the concession would have to be announced by the middle of this year.

As China and Croatia's bond grows deeper still, the Chinese companies will start with the concession on that particular part of the Croatian coast, the development of a logistics centre and a back terminal in the entrepreneurial Miklavlje zone will probably be offered.

If an interest in making such a move is shown, then the competent Croatian ministry and the Croatian Government will begin seriously contemplating their involvement in far larger infrastructure projects on Rijeka's traffic connections, primarily the construction of a railway line from Rijeka all the way to the Hungarian border, and when looking at much longer-term plans, the possible construction of a large container terminal on the island of Krk, along with a new road-rail bridge.

Make sure to stay up to date with everything you need to know on the growing relationship between China and Croatia and much, much more by following our dedicated business page.

ZAGREB, December 15, 2018 - The northern Adriatic island of Krk plans to become the first energy-independent and CO2-neutral island in the Mediterranean, according to one of the conclusions of the 7th Krk Energy Conference organised by the Eko Kvarner NGO in the Town of Krk on Saturday.

The conference was held as part of the "Krk - Energy-independent and CO2-neutral Island" project which Eko Kvarner will implement in cooperation with the European Asbestos Risk Association from Trieste, Italy and the Town of Krk, with the support of the German Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety Ministry's European Climate Initiative.

All seven local government units on the island are included in the project, the objective being to encourage its energy transition towards renewables.

The island already has an energy cooperative, a cadastre of roofs and several solar power plants, the biggest one being on the Treskavac landfill.

The conference heard how to design and install a small photovoltaic power station, how to conceive and optimise a management system for numerous energy sources, as well as the methodology for the smart integration of renewables. Participants also discussed the economic and health aspects of installing solar panels.

One of the goals of the "Krk - Energy-independent and CO2-neutral Island" project is the installation of 250 to 500 solar panels of up to 5 kW, totalling up to 1 MW in power, by the end of 2021.

More news on the island of Krk can be found in our Travel section.

New ferry lines are always needed, and it's one of the top complaints of Croatia's permanent island inhabitants, as the availability of their connection to the mainland is often governed too much by the tourist season. Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has decided to introduce a new Croatian ferry line which will connect the Municipality of Lopar and Baška, located on the nearby island of Krk.

As Morski writes on the 30th of November, 2018, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County has launched a welcome new ferry connection between Baska and Lopar, and the move was announced Primorje-Gorski Kotar County's deputy prefect, Marina Medarić.

Novi List reported that she spoke to the press on the matter and stated that the proposal for confirming the establishment of a year-round ferry connection which will cover the line of Baška-Lopar-Baška, will be one of the points of the County Assembly session this week.

The initiative was initiated by the Krk Harbour County Administration, and so far, the plans are for the connection to run once weekly during the more sparse winter months, twice weekly during the pre-season, and in the very height of the summer season, as many as four times per week.

If the County Assembly approves the proposal, the procedure of a public tender will be launched, where all interested shipping companies who desire to carry out the activity of this line will be able to make their interests known and submit their bids.

Make sure to keep up with our travel and news pages for more information on any other new Croatian ferry line, as well as for all the goings on from up and down the country, from continent to coast.

Click here for the original article by Tihana Tomicic for Novi List

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