Project record

Ploce New Bulk Cargo Terminal

Participation
Not assessed
Project facts checked

Civil infrastructure was completed in June 2016, CNBM equipment arrived in October 2017, trial operation began in March 2019 and regular vessel service began in February 2021. The operator's current port card lists a 2,000 t/h grab ship unloader and 4.6 Mt/y design capacity

Project sources

Port of Ploce Authority developed the marine infrastructure while Luka Ploce d.d. took the equipment and operating concession. A CYES-Viadukt joint venture received the HRK 406.49 million civil contract; TEC Inc. and BCEOM with Hidroprojekt designed the terminal, and Institut IGH with Invest Inzenjering supervised construction. CNBM International Engineering supplied and installed the cargo-handling system, supported by named Croatian specialists. The civil platform finished in 2016, but equipment delivery, installation, testing and regular service extended the operating chain to February 2021.

Grab ship unloader serving a bulk carrier at the operating Ploce New Bulk Cargo Terminal

Luka Ploce d.d.; exact operating terminal and 2,000 t/h ship unloader

Location

Croatia / Europe

Segment

Deep-draft dry-bulk terminal, open piled quay, ground improvement, conveyors and rail-loading systems

Phase

Completed / Confirmed

Last checked

2 August 2026

Coverage

Related sectors

Deep-draft dry-bulk terminal, open piled quay, ground improvement, conveyors and rail-loading systems is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.

Subject index

Related subjects

These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.

Project anatomy

Contract scope and delivery roles

Client / authority
Port of Ploce Authority as public infrastructure owner and Luka Ploce d.d. as equipment investor, terminal concessionaire and operator
Delivery parties
CYES (Construcciones y Estudios) and Viadukt - joint venture for the first-phase terminal infrastructure, TEC Inc. and BCEOM with Hidroprojekt - concept and main-design consortium, Institut IGH and Invest Inzenjering - construction-supervision joint venture, Keller Geotechnik - accelerated consolidation of the terminal stockyard completed in 2008, Rijeka Projekt - independent design review, Exstructa - infrastructure project-management and technical-support services, CNBM International Engineering Co. Ltd. - main contractor for manufacture, delivery, installation and integration of terminal handling equipment, IVICOM Consulting and Iskraemeco - named equipment-package subcontractors in HELB's project record, HELB - conveyor and transfer-station installation, testing and commissioning subcontractor
Contract route
The World Bank procedure separated public basic infrastructure from concessionaire equipment. Port of Ploce Authority signed the HRK 406,492,091 civil contract with the CYES-Viadukt joint venture in March 2012 and the supervision contract with Institut IGH-Invest Inzenjering. Luka Ploce later signed CNBM International Engineering for manufacture and installation of the handling system under the public-private delivery split. HELB identifies IVICOM Consulting, Iskraemeco and HELB as downstream equipment-package subcontractors.
Execution window
Design appointments began in 2007, ground consolidation finished in 2008, and principal civil works ran from April 2012 to June 2016 after multiple extensions. CNBM equipment was delivered on 23 October 2017; HELB records installation, testing and commissioning work beginning in April 2018. Trial operation started on 1 March 2019. The 19 February 2021 Orient Cavalier call marked the start of regular terminal operation. Luka Ploce's 2024 sustainability report continues to describe the terminal as operating and records EUR 36.93 million invested in equipment and new cranes.
Works package
Create the Vlaška-channel bulk terminal on an approximately 240,000 m2 site, with an open reinforced-concrete berth structure, access bridge, stockyard, rail interfaces and utilities; install a grab ship unloader, mobile crane, enclosed conveyor and transfer-station system, stacker-reclaimer and rail-wagon loading station. The operator states a 365-metre pier, nominal 18-metre draft, 4.6 million t/y first-phase capacity and potential expansion to 6.2 million t/y. Its current port card limits normal ship particulars to 300 m LOA, 46 m beam and 17.5 m draft, or 17.8 m at high tide.
Marine interfaces
The berth, approach and reclaimed stockyard had to align deep-draft bulk-carrier access with an open piled quay, seismic design, soil consolidation, rail logistics and the concessionaire's later equipment geometry. Audit records show the design changed repeatedly, including quay length and access-channel excavation assumptions. The current operator page supports Cape-size handling capability; published records do not disclose a final dredging quantity or an as-built hydrographic acceptance record.
Commercial evidence boundary
The HRK 406.49 million, approximately EUR 54.12 million, amount is the civil-works contract. Luka Ploce's 2024 sustainability report records EUR 36.93 million invested in equipment and new cranes. The roughly EUR 200 million figure belongs to the wider Trade and Transport Integration programme, not this terminal alone. EBRD signed a EUR 11.2 million loan in 2007, but the Port Authority's audit says only EUR 393,144 of interest and fees was drawn before the facility was repaid from its own funds in 2012; the World Bank review records the co-financing as cancelled.

Project timeline

Material developments

Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.

Open this project in the Change Log

Operator documented the terminal as an operating sustainability asset

Luka Ploce's 2024 sustainability report records commencement of DBCT operations, EUR 36.93 million of equipment and crane investment, and later electrification work, providing a current operating-era source beyond the original project page.

Source

Regular operation began with the Orient Cavalier call

Croatian public broadcaster HRT reported that the 110,000-tonne coal cargo marked regular service, roughly five years after civil completion and two years after trial operation began.

Source

The integrated terminal entered trial operation

Trial running provided the first system-level evidence after equipment installation, but it did not establish regular commercial service.

Source

CNBM equipment arrived in Ploce

The operator confirmed delivery of the Chinese-built handling system while installation, testing and terminal integration still remained ahead.

Source

Civil infrastructure completed without operating equipment

World Bank evaluation records physical completion in June 2016 while the terminal remained non-operational because the concessionaire's equipment was still pending.

Source

Luka Ploce contracted CNBM for the handling system

The concessionaire selected CNBM International Engineering to manufacture and install equipment under the public-private package split before the later installation and commissioning programme.

Source

CYES and Viadukt signed the civil contract

The HRK 406 million infrastructure award established the principal marine-civil joint venture and an original 26-month construction period.

Source

Evidence gap

What remains unverified

Outstanding evidence

  • Terminal-specific annual throughput and utilisation
  • DBCT electrification and solar-power integration
  • Ship-unloader and conveyor availability and major maintenance
  • Dust, runoff and environmental-monitoring performance
  • Expansion decision from 4.6 to 6.2 million t/y
  • As-built berth geometry and hydrographic acceptance record
  • Any change to Luka Ploce's equipment and operating concession
  • Strict separation of terminal capex from the wider EUR 200 million programme

Related records 2

Reporting status

Project phase
Completed
Evidence confidence
Confirmed
Last checked
2 August 2026
Cited sources
10

Sources and related records

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Source collections

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