From Begej to open sea – Ship of 90 meters launched in Zrenjanin

A 90-m ship was launched today at the Begej shipyard in Zrenjanin, whose property was bought in 2016 by Belgrade-based Rubikon Shipping Company.

The director of Rubikon, Marko Prazic, said that the ship was the first vessel to be built since the transfer of the ownership.

– It hasn't been easy for us in the past period. It was necessary to do two demanding jobs in parallel. The first was to raise the shipyard, which was neglected and in bankruptcy, and the second one was to build the ship – he said.

Prazic pointed out that the launch “is only just the beginning of Begej's comeback to the European shipbuilding map”.

The head of production, Srdjan Jovanov, reminds that the Begej shipyard has existed since 1947, but that the six-year bankruptcy has left an impact and that it has been hard to recover the company and have the ship built.

– In the past, something like this was a common occurrence at the shipyard, and I hope that we will re-establish our brand – Jovanov said.

The boat, he said, is 90 meters long and 9.5 meters wide and weighs around 500 tons. It is meant for container cargo transport and its construction was carried out by around 50 workers from Zrenjanin. It will be delivered to a Dutch purchaser.

The event was attended by the head of the Central Banat District, Snezana Vucurevic, and the Deputy Mayor, Sasa Santovac. They said that they were pleased that the shipyard was operational again and reminded that Zrenjanin was a town with a long shipbuilding tradition.

Rubikon Shipping Company from Belgrade became the owner of the property of the Begej shipyard in bankruptcy in 2016, when the pertinent decision was reached by the Board of Creditors, which had accepted the offer of Rubikon exceeding RSD 96 million.

Brodogradilište Begej doo Zrenjanin

Rubikon Shipping Company doo Beograd

Zrenjanin shipyard

Marko Prazic

Srdjan Jovanov

Snezana Vucurevic

Sasa Santovac

boat launch