Terminal Delivery
Ploce needed four completion dates before the terminal truly operated
Luka Ploce d.d.; exact terminal conveyor and stockyard system
Ploce's New Bulk Cargo Terminal is a clean example of why a single completion label fails. Public infrastructure was physically complete in June 2016. CNBM equipment arrived in October 2017. Integrated trial operation started in March 2019. Regular service began with the Orient Cavalier call in February 2021. The delivery chain also separates the Port Authority's CYES-Viadukt civil contract from Luka Ploce's concessionaire-funded CNBM handling system.
Four dates control four different risks
Port Authority audit records supply the most complete contract map and show the EBRD repayment. World Bank evaluation separates June 2016 civil completion from the pending equipment package. Luka Ploce documents CNBM delivery, trial operation, current technical limits and later sustainability investment. HELB names the equipment subcontract team and its commissioning scope. HRT establishes the February 2021 regular-service gate.
The contract chain continues below both main packages
A completed quay cannot unload a vessel without equipment, power, controls, rail interfaces, testing and an operating release. Ploce's five-year gap from civil completion to regular service exposes commercial opportunities and risks that disappear when a database records only one status. Lender project labels also require contract-level verification: EBRD still lists project 36127 as Complete, but World Bank and Port Authority records show the EUR 11.2 million EBRD facility was cancelled or repaid in 2012 rather than financing final construction.
Evidence conclusion
Current throughput is the remaining operating evidence gap
Outstanding evidence
- Terminal-specific annual throughput and berth utilisation
- DBCT electrification and solar integration
- Ship-unloader, conveyor and stacker-reclaimer availability
- Dust-control and environmental-monitoring outcomes
- Expansion from 4.6 to 6.2 million t/y
- Concession amendments and equipment reinvestment
- As-built berth and hydrographic acceptance records
- No reuse of the wider EUR 200 million programme value as terminal capex
Subject index
Related subjects
These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.
Sources used 8
- Port of Ploce Authority audited ITT project accounts for 2015 Port of Ploce Authority, 2016
- Trade and Transport Integration implementation completion review World Bank Independent Evaluation Group, 2017
- Contract signed on bulk cargo terminal in Ploce Croatian Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, 29 March 2012
- New Bulk Cargo Terminal technical and operating page Luka Ploce d.d., Current page reviewed 2 August 2026
- CNBM equipment delivered for the new bulk cargo terminal Luka Ploce d.d., 23 October 2017
- Challenging project with a Chinese giant HELB, 2019
- Largest vessel in Ploce history starts regular bulk-terminal operation HRT Croatian Radiotelevision, 19 February 2021
- Luka Ploce Sustainability Report 2024 Luka Ploce d.d., September 2025