EuropeShipyards

Workers weld entrance gates together in protest as Croatia’s largest shipyard edges closer to bankruptcy

Workers at the Uljanik shipyard in the north of Croatia went on strike again yesterday, albeit they did not down tools per se. Indeed, in the long running feud to stave off bankruptcy, the shipbuilders used yard tools yesterday to weld two of the three gate entrances to the yard together.

“We are on strike again as of today as we did not get any positive information from the government or Uljanik’s management,” the chairman of the strike committee, Boris Cerovac, said yesterday.

Workers are seeking government help to push through restructuring and pay seven months of back pay.

The gates to Uljanik will be blocked until further notice, Cerovac said, until a solution for the shipyard is found.

Liquidity problems first emerged at Croatia’s largest shipyard two years ago. Uljanik has suffered a number of order cancellations as well as a series of strikes over the past year.

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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