Jadrolinija plans 10 new ships, with ferries for Cres, Pag, Brač

Croatia's state shipping line Jadrolinija is planning ten new ships, including new car ferries for the routes to Cres, Pag and Brač. The Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure confirmed the plan to the Rijeka daily Novi list, which reported it on 21 October 2026. According to the paper, the government will soon decide on a capital increase for the company. For visitors who travel by car, one detail matters most: four of the new ferries are meant for the routes that take cars to Cres, Pag and Brač.

Unofficial figures quoted by Novi list put the capital increase at 60 to 100 million euros. A decision is expected before the end of 2026, and the money is due by early 2027 at the latest. The state stays the sole owner. It would be the first capital increase in the company's recent history; until now the state has helped with support from the budget. The money is to cover the 2025 loss and help pay for new ships.

Which ships are planned

• Seven ferries with low-emission propulsion, for example green methanol made from renewable sources.
• Three classic passenger ships with electric propulsion.
• Four of the ferries, each taking 100 vehicles or more, are meant for routes whose concessions expire in 2027: Brestova-Porozina, Valbiska-Merag, Prizna-Žigljen and Split-Supetar.
• The ten ships are estimated to cost 200 to 260 million euros.
• Separately, Jadrolinija is choosing a shipyard for a new diesel-electric ship for the routes from Dubrovnik to the Elaphiti Islands. Two yards are still in the running, and final bids are expected by mid-November.

How the ships are to be paid for

Jadrolinija says it has reached preliminary agreements with the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group. A World Bank loan is being prepared, and the company is also looking at EU funds and commercial bank loans. Jadrolinija signed a letter of intent with the IFC at the end of 2025, the company said in May when it presented its annual results (tportal/Hina). The project is called Green and Efficient Maritime Passenger Transport in Croatia and covers ferries running on biodiesel or methanol and electric passenger ships.

For 2025 Jadrolinija reported revenue of 195.1 million euros and costs of 203.8 million euros, about ten per cent more than a year earlier. That left a loss of 8.7 million euros. Its ships carried 12.6 million passengers and 3.8 million vehicles.

What it means for visitors

The four routes named are the car ferries to Cres, Pag and Brač. Brestova-Porozina links the east coast of Istria with Cres, and Valbiska-Merag runs from Krk to Cres and on towards Lošinj. Prizna-Žigljen carries cars from the mainland to the northern end of Pag near Novalja. Split-Supetar is the main link to Brač.

For trips this winter nothing changes yet. The ships still have to be ordered and built, and the reports give no date for the first sailing. The concessions for the four routes expire in 2027, and the new award will decide who runs them after that. How reservations and port queues work is explained in our car ferry guide, and the links between the Dalmatian islands in our island hopping overview. How quickly the wind changes the timetable showed on 21 October, when a jugo storm also cancelled the Porozina-Brestova ferry, as our October weather page reported.