Osnovna kola Bartola Kaia Vinkovci Erasmus 2018 2020

Osnovna škola Bartola Kašića Vinkovci Erasmus+ 2018 -2020 W. A. T. E. R. –in other ways WATER TRANSPORT CROATIA September 2019

People built settlements near water because water is essential for life. They saw thousands of years ago that it can be used for travelling and transporting goods, too. Water transport is the cheapest and the oldest mode of transport. It operates on a natural track and it does not require huge capital investment in the construction and maintenance of its track except in case of canals. The cost of operation of water transport is also low. It has the largest carrying capacity and is most suitable for carrying bulky goods over long distances. It has played a very significant role in bringing different parts of the world closer and it is very important in foreign trade.

The simplest way of travelling was using logs that float on water. Water transport started in stone-age.

Dugout canoes About 12 000 years ago dugout canoes appeared. People used simple tools and even fire to hollow out the core.

The oldest preserved dugout canoe Replica of a dugout canoe in the Museum of Vučedol Culture

Since then people have succeeded in constructing lots of diferent boats and ships. Kinds of water transport: a) Inland water transport - transport on rivers( suitable for small boats and big barges), it was very important before the development of modern means of land transport - transport on canals (artificial waterways with the purpose of irrigation and navigation). Canals are very expensive to construct and maintain - transport on lakes – lakes can be natural or artificial

b) Sea and ocean transport: - coastal shipping for passengers and cargo - Overseas shipping for cargo and passengers

Water transport has numerous advantages: - Low cost: waterways are the cheapest mode of transporting goods from one place ot another, rivers are a natural highway and usually do not require maintenance - Larger capacity: it is possible to transport much larger quantity of heavy and bulky goods - Flexible service: it provides much more flexible service than railways and can be adjusted to individual requirements - Safety: the risks of accidents and breakdowns are minimum compared to other forms of transport

There also some disadvantages: - Slow: water transport is slower and it is unsuitable where time is an important factor - Limited area of operation: it can be used only in certain areas - Seasonal character: rivers and canals may freeze during winter or water level may go very much down during summer - Ships can be attacked while sailing through certain areas - Storms make it difficult to rescue the crew and cargo

Icebreaker ship on the Danube

Special dredges are used to clean the bottom of a river or a canal

Water transport in Croatia as a country by the Adriatic Sea and also has lots of rivers, but only few are navigable: River Length (km) In Croatia Navigable in Croatia the Danube 2857 138 the Sava 945 562 340 the Drava 707 505 90 the Neretva 225 20 20

The biggest ports at the Adriatic Sea are Ploče, Split and Rijeka. They load and unload millions of tons of cargo from different European countries and from other continents.

Croatia has hundreds of islands and it is necessary to connect them to the mainland. Jadrolinija is a Croatian sea shipping company. It connects Croatian islands to the mainland by operating regular passenger and cargo transport services. The company mainly uses car ferries on domestic routes along the Croatian coast, but also has international routes across the Adriatic Sea to ports at Ancona and Bari in Italy. Jadrolinija has 54 vessels: 3 large ferries, 37 smaller ferries used for local passenger service, 8 catamarans, 1 hydrobus and 5 conventional ships

Some ferries were named after important figures from Croatian history, one of them is Bartol Kašić.

The biggest river port in Croatia is in Vukovar, at the Danube. It has 1. 2 to 1. 5 million tons of goods every year (coal, different crops). Road traffic is more important in Croatia.

People who live by the river Neretva still use their traditional boats called neretvanska lađa to transport crops from their fields and orchards.

Nowadays people travel by boats and ships for pleasure. About 200 river cruisers with tourists from all over the world visit Vukovar every year.

Boats for short trips on the Danube and the Bosut

You can go on a boat trip on lakes in nature parks and national parks. Plitvice national park Nature park Kopački rit

One of the symbols of the city of Zadar is the BARKAJOLI which, from the 14 th century, have connected the two shores of the city harbour by small oar boats to shorten the way to the city centre. Otherwise people should go all around the bay. Many inhabitants of Zadar use this cheap service and it has become a tourist attraction.