The story of Spuzvar – the ferry on the shortest line in the Adriatic

At the 320 meters distance between Brodarica and Krapanj, the lowest and smallest inhabited Adriatic island, operates Spužvar (Spongebob), a small ferry with a big heart.

The wooden ship has been in service for almost five decades and, interestingly, since its first days, it has successfully tamed the waves on only one route: Krapanj-Brodarica. 

Krešimir Miškić, head of the Department of Public Maritime Transport in the company City Parking says the ship was built in 1972 in the shipyard “Punat” on the island of Krk. Its length is 14 meters and it runs on this route from the very beginning.

Spužvar and his twin brother

The concessionaire of the passenger line is a company whose name speaks volumes about its parent business, at first glance far from the sea and ferries. It is also interesting that two identical ships were built in Punat in 1972, but Spužvar’s twin brother had a shorter lifespan. Namely, the second ship ended up in Dubrovnik, where it was sunk and destroyed due to shelling in the Homeland War.

Miškić continues by saying Spužvar is very grateful, everything can fit on the front of the ship, from excavators and vans to construction combiners, it is perfect in terms of size and possibilities, its only drawback is that it is made of wood.

Brodarica-Krapanj, the shortest route on the Adriatic

Anyway, this shortest sea route with state status is of vital importance for the inhabitants of this, until the 60s of the last century. Back then, it was the most densely populated island in the Adriatic, today with only 120 inhabitants. In the winter months, there are 15 scheduled departures and they are constantly used by about a hundred people, while in the summer two more departures are added, as the number of weekly passengers increases to several thousand.

According to the data provided by the City Parking, from January to August this year, almost 46,000 tickets were sold, of which as many as 16,000 tickets during August alone.

It never happened that Krapanj was cut off from the mainland for any reason. The vehicle was driven in the worst possible weather conditions, even in the snow that caused major traffic problems in 2012.

Let us also mention that by the decision of the City Council of Šibenik from August 1, 2012, City Parking took over the maintenance of the line for which they were given two ships: the main actor of our story and his even older colleague Borac who came out of the shipyard 72 years ago.

These two not-so-young gentlemen will soon go for “make-up”. Moreover, Borac has already sailed towards the shipyard and the same will soon happen to Spužvar, which suffered a lot during the past works which made Krapanj the only island in the Šibenik archipelago with the sewage connected to the city purifier.

Source: Slobodnadalmacija.hr