The Port of Split ( hr, Luka Split) is a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

in the central

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

n city of

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = " Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capi ...

. The port was originally a trading post originally established by

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

settlers from the island of Vis and subsequently taken over by the Romans. The port thrived through the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but it suffered a decline in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when the Port of Rijeka took over as the primary trading and shipping outlet of the region. The decline was also attributed to the decline of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, a traditional market for the Port of Split, and the growing domination of

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

. As of 2017, the port ranks as the largest passenger port in Croatia, the largest passenger port in the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

, and the 11th largest port in the Mediterranean, with annual passenger volume of approximately 5 million. By 2010, the Port of Split recorded 18,000 ship arrivals each year. The port is managed by the Port of Split Authority (PSA). In the late 2000s, the PSA and the port operators, Trajektna Luka Split d.d. and Luka d.d. Split, started to implement an investment plan aimed at increasing both passenger and cargo traffic volume, scheduled to be completed by 2015, which would allow the port to handle up to 7 million passengers per year.

Business operations

The Port of Split is the largest passenger port in Croatia and the third largest passenger seaport in the Mediterranean. The port is administered by the Port of Split Authority, and the primary concessionaires Trajektna Luka Split and Luka d.d. Split, as well as 11 secondary concessionaires awarded concessions to use the port facilities or provide services in the port. The primary concessionaires are operating the City Port Split and Vranjic-Solin basin area, respectively, with the secondary concessionaires active in Vranjic-Solin area of the port and the terminals based in Kaštela. The latter are Dalmacijacement, PROplin, Brodomerkur, Trast, Tehnospoj, Dujmovača, Žitni Terminal, INA, Profectus, Eko Kaštelanski Zaljev and

OMV OMV (formerly abbreviation for Österreichische Mineralölverwaltung Aktiengesellschaft ('' en, Austrian Mineral Oil Administration Stock Company'')) is an Austrian multinational integrated oil, gas and petrochemical company which is headquart ...

companies. Passenger and vehicle transit is handled by Jadrolinija, Krilo Shipping Company, Krilo - Kapetan Luka and Split Express; however in 2009 Jadrolinija share of the passenger traffic volume reached 85%. In 2009, total passenger traffic volume reached 3,995,846 passengers, representing a 3.3% drop compared to the previous year. The port serves eight island ferry lines, and nine additional passenger shipping lines connecting nearby islands. There are such transport links to the islands of

Brač Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of , making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. The island's tall ...

and Hvar—carrying up to 2,000 and 1,000 vehicles per day during tourist seasons—as well as to islands of Vis,

Lastovo Lastovo (; it, Lagosta, german: Augusta, la, Augusta Insula, el, Ladestanos, Illyrian: ''Ladest'') is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 p ...

Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after ...

Šolta Šolta (; it, Solta; la, Solentium) is an island in Croatia. It is situated in the Adriatic Sea in the central Dalmatian archipelago, west of the island of Brač, south of Split (separated by Split Channel) and east of the Drvenik islands, ...

, Drvenik Veliki, Drvenik Mali providing regular transport links for a large area. In 2009, the ferry lines carried

annual average daily traffic Annual average daily traffic, abbreviated AADT, is a measure used primarily in transportation planning, transportation engineering and retail location selection. Traditionally, it is the total volume of vehicle traffic of a highway or road for a ...

of 1,698 vehicles. During the summer peak season, the

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). ...

increases to a total of 3,812 vehicles on average. In 2008, the Port of Split recorded a total of 16,527 ship arrivals, and handled 2.7 million tonnes of cargo. In 2008, Luka d.d. Split, the primary cargo concessionaire company of the Port of Split, recorded substantial growth of transshipment volume. In the first nine months of the year, the company handled 276,000 tonnes of cargo, representing a growth rate of 20% achieved by that company. The cargo volume projected for the entire year was estimated at 345,000 tonnes, including 6,170

TEUs The twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports.Rowlett, 2004. It is based on the volume of a intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box whic ...

. The growth was permitted by investments made in late 2007, and the increased volume of operation brought about profit of approximately 2.4 million

kuna Kuna may refer to: Places * Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States ** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho * Kuna Peak, a mountain in California * , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia * , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...

(325,000

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

) in the first nine months of 2008. Overall port operations continue to grow, as 18,000 arrivals were recorded by 2010. Director of the Split Port Authority is Joško Berket Bakota.

Transport facilities

The Port of Split is located on the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

coast in a bay protected by the

peninsula and a string of islands. Its facilities include terminals and other structures in Split, Solin and

Kaštela Kaštela (;) is a town in Split-Dalmatia County. The town is an agglomeration of seven individual settlements which are administered as a single municipality with populations individually ranging from 3,000 to 7,000 residents. The town is loca ...

, all located on approximately of coast. The port is connected by the

International E-road network The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Cen ...

routes E65 and E71 carried by the Croatian A1 motorway and the D1 state road. The port is also connected with Zagreb by an un-electrified single-track railway, which runs through Knin and Karlovac. The port comprises several terminals: * The Port of Split - handles

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

fishing vessels A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was e ...

, passenger ships, navigation safety craft,

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

seaplanes A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characterist ...

and ferries; contains a passenger terminal and a rail link, 28 berths and accommodates vessels up to long with draught up to * Resnik-Divulje passenger terminal - designed to facilitate transfer of ship passengers to the

Split Airport Split Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Split; ), also known as Resnik Airport ( hr, Zračna luka Resnik), is the international airport serving the city of Split, Croatia. It is located from Split, on the west side of Kaštela Bay, in the town of Kaš ...

, located just away; The terminal consists of a single berth accommodating craft up to long with draught up to * Vranjic-Solin basin - used as a

container cargo A container port or container terminal is a facility where cargo containers are transshipped between different transport vehicles, for onward transportation. The transshipment may be between container ships and land vehicles, for example train ...

terminal, comprising 5 berths, a

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ramp, 8 storage warehouses, including refrigerated storage and open storage area; the terminal accommodates ships up to long with draught up to ; The facility is located in Vranjic area north of the city of Split, connected by railway and its own truck terminal. The terminal comprises a Free Zone, allowing tax breaks for transshipment of cargo and processing of goods. The terminal encompasses a area. * Kaštela basin A - reserved for mooring of ships under instructions by the port authority * Kaštela basin B - cargo terminal used by the secondary concessionaires (other than Luka d.d. Split), generally for their own transport needs, accommodating ships with draught up to * Kaštela basin C - mooring for laid-up vessels,

pest control Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

, fishing boats etc.; the terminal accommodates craft with draught up to

Airlines and destinations

As of 13 August 2016, there are currently no scheduled services as the only airline here,

European Coastal Airlines European Coastal Airlines was a Croatian seaplane operator headquartered in Split. Founded in 2000, the company launched scheduled services in August 2014 and served domestic flights within Croatia as well as services to nearby Italy. The com ...

, has suspended operations.

History

The first trading post at the site of the Port of Split was Aspalathos, established by Greek settlers from the island of Vis in the 4th century BC. Position of the trading post was selected because of its location in a natural harbor and its proximity to numerous Adriatic Sea islands and extensive hinterland populated by

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

ns, most notably in

Salona Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia. Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in ...

. The area subsequently became a part of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

, and after its

Decline of the Roman Empire The fall of the Western Roman Empire (also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome) was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vas ...

, the coast was brought under rule of the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, until the area was absorbed into the

Kingdom of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia may refer to: * Kingdom of Croatia (925–1102), an independent medieval kingdom * Croatia in personal union with Hungary (1102–1526), a kingdom in personal union with the Kingdom of Hungary * Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) (152 ...

in the beginning of the 10th century. In 1102, Croatia and

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

were joined in a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...

. By the 12th century, Split had developed trading routes with its hinterland and maritime trade throughout the Adriatic Sea and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

. The

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

of gained full control of

and the city of Split by 1428. In the 16th century, Split was the central maritime trade outlet of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

, where goods were transported from the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

to the Venetian Republic and vice versa. After the fall of Venice, Split was briefly ruled by the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

and

between 1797 and 1806, and the

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

until 1813 when Austrian rule was restored. In that period, trade routes shifted to other Adriatic ports, especially the Port of Rijeka, causing a downturn in the city's economy. In the second half of the 19th century, the economy of the city of Split and its surrounding area started to recover and Split soon became hub of the central Dalmatia, connecting the hinterland and the neighboring islands. This spurred development of the city port and its transport connections, including construction of a new

breakwater Breakwater may refer to: * Breakwater (structure), a structure for protecting a beach or harbour Places * Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia * Breakwater Island, Antarctica * Breakwater Islands, Nunavut, Canada * Br ...

and the Split–

Knin Knin (, sr, link=no, Книн, it, link=no, Tenin) is a city in the Šibenik-Knin County of Croatia, located in the Dalmatian hinterland near the source of the river Krka, an important traffic junction on the rail and road routes between Zagr ...

railway. In 1925, the railway was linked to the

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Prim ...

–

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

railway via

Gospić Gospić () is a town in the mountainous and sparsely populated region of Lika, Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Lika-Senj County. Gospić is located near the Lika River in the middle of a karst field ( Ličko Polje). Gospić is the ...

, allowing development of a modern port. Since 1957, cargo terminals of the Port of Split were relocated from the city centre to industrial zones in Solin and

areas, while passenger traffic still uses the centrally positioned harbor.

Future expansion

As of 2011, the Port of Split facilities are intended to be modernized to specialize in domestic and international passenger traffic. Consequently, St. Nicholas pier is planned to be extended and summer seasonal berths are scheduled to be added by 2015. The Resnik-Divulje passenger terminal is planned to be expanded within the framework of the second construction stage entailing two additional berths by the end of 2014. The expansions of the two passenger terminals are aimed at achieving passenger transport capacity of 7 million passengers per year. Two new berths capable of accommodating long

cruise ships Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...

are also planned, and is expected to cost 100 million kuna (13.3 million euro) to construct. The container terminal in Vranjic-Solin basin is also expected to be modernized and its infrastructure is planned to be upgraded. Other segments of the port are scheduled to undergo comparably minor repairs as well.

References

External links

The Port of Split Authority official page
(Croatian) *

NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...

maps :* Approaches to Spli
#54201
* Croatian Automobile Club :* Split Passenger Port (ferry dock
webcams
{{Split, Croatia

Split, Croatia Transport in Split-Dalmatia County Economy of Split, Croatia