On June 30, 2022, the Punat Shipyard celebrated its 100th anniversary as a successful enterprise. Dragutin Zic, the former shipyard manager and the founder of Marina Punat, presented a monography with the symbolic title “Tradition for the Future”.
As times changed, so did the Punat Shipyard, adjusting to the market and technology shifts. What started as a small boatyard grew into a large shipyard famous for the wooden boat building in the 1980ies, and today it is a well-known service centre for vessel maintenance of all sorts, including large ferries. But, in Punat, they are not resting on their laurels, so the celebration was not just about glorifying the past but also about envisioning the future.
Mario Wagner, the Punat Shipyard General Manager since 2012, presented the vision of the future and the new investment cycle that had just started. The foothold for the shipyard's future is based on the foundations of high competence, sustainability and environment protection, confirmed with the ISO 9001 certificate, leaning more toward maintaining modern vessels of larger scale, catamarans and super yachts.
Following that vision, the first step is a major expansion of the travel lift pool and purchasing a new larger-capacity travel lift with 500t of bearing strength. This shall be the most significant and modern travel lift of the kind on this side of the Adriatic, allowing the service of motor boats up to 16 meters in width and 40 meters in length, with significant noise reduction and less environmental impact. These works will include expanding the service area in the Yacht Service zone, allowing for more maneuvring space, easier manipulation of vessels and more space for boats in service.
Part of the old workshops is being repurposed to host Subcontractors Coworking Space – a place where numerous partners and licenced subcontractors that are currently visiting to work on boat repairs are now invited to set up their offices or workshops to be closer to clients and offer better and faster service.
Since its founding, Punat Boatyard has been sponsoring the education of young people in modern boatbuilding vocations in cooperation with the nearby high schools and crafts schools, providing in-site teaching practice for the students. Further lifelong education for licencing at the manufacturers ensures the familiarity with the new engines, modern technologies and a guarantee for the quality of works and repairs done.
The 100th anniversary of Punat Boatyard also marks a century of prosperity for a small island community that evolved from a little sea village into a modern nautical centre of European significance. Over the years, more than 1500 employees provided for their families by working at the shipyard. Even today, one can hardly find a family in Punat and the surroundings that are not connected to Marina Punat Group. The celebrating audience, both guests and current and retired employees, agreed that the presented plans and investments could be a guarantee for a safe future for the next generation of young people of Punat and the island of Krk.