Jadrolinija takes over new line Zadar – Durres

After last week’s visit of the Croatian delegation to Albania, where the possibility of opening a ferry line between Zadar and the Albanian port of Durres was agreed upon, now we know the details of the new line that would be taken over by the Croatian shipping company.

Namely, State Secretary at the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure Josip Bilaver, who together with Minister Oleg Butković last week met with the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy of the Republic of Albania Belinda Belluka and the Minister of Tourism and Environment Blendie Klosi, confirmed for Morski.hr that Zadar and Durres will be connected by Jadrolinija ships.

Bilaver says they have also appointed contact persons from both sides who have the task of analyzing the potential of the new ship line as soon as possible. This primarily means estimating the cost-effectiveness of the line and the amount of passenger and freight traffic on the basis of which we would make a decision on the frequency of weekly departures.

He adds that the Zadar-Durres ferry line is of mutual interest for both Croatia and Albania and the most interesting of all Croatian ports on the Albanian side is the port of Zadar due to its geographical position, but also due to the technical possibilities that this port provides.

For Albanians, Zadar is the most suitable due to the fact that it is an international border crossing that has all the necessary infrastructure, customs and police control and is well connected by road with Central and Western Europe, which opens opportunities for Albania to place their products on the European market.

The Croatian side, on the other hand, sees its interest in the development of freight traffic, because the current truck traffic from highways would be redirected to the ferry line and thus relieve road routes.

Bilaver concludes by saying their intention is to realize as many international lines as possible with a domestic coastal liner carrier. For now, they have lines to Italy, but there is potential for expansion to other international lines, so why not take the opportunity to open a line to Albania, especially if the economy has an interest in it.