THE PORT OF PLOČE

From local dock to international port
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The old seaport that was located on the site of today’s port was first mentioned on November 6, 1387 and it was called “Ploče”. The port itself began to gain importance in the 20th century, when port developmental plans slowly began to be realized.
The development of the port and the city in the second half of the 20th century can be traced through three phases:
  • First phase: construction of the Port of Ploče
  • Second phase: construction of a port settlement
  • Third phase: construction of the town of Ploče.
OLDEST WRITTEN WORD OF THE PORT OF PLOČE
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Prvi pisani povijesni dokument iz 1387. godine u kojem se spominje pristanište (luka) Ploče.

The first written historical document from 1387 that mentions the port of Ploče.

Drugi pisani povijesni dokument iz 1426. godine gdje se spominje pristanište (luka) Ploče.

Another written historical document from 1426 where the port of Ploče is mentioned.

Neretvanski kraj s ušćem rijeke Neretve iz vremena fra Luke Vladimirovića (1718. – 1788.).

Neretva region with the Neretva River from the time of Br. Luke Vladimirović (1718-1788).

Dolina Neretve na zemljopisnoj karti iz 1927. godine.

Construction of the Port of Ploče in the plans of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in the second half of the nineteenth century, which had begun construction of the embankment around the Delta Neretva to the Gulf but abandoned the construction.

Dolina Neretve na zemljopisnoj karti iz 1927. godine.

The Neretva Valley on the Geographical Map in 1927.

Ing. BORIS KARAKOZ
the alpha and omega in the creation of the port of Ploče
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Engineer Boris Karakoz was born in 1893 in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine. He completed his grammar school and studied at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Petrovgrad at the Political Institute. At the beginning of 1930 he came to Split where he served as head of the Maritime Construction Department. Completely devoted to his craft, it is difficult to find an object on the Adriatic coast today that in some way was not influenced and engaged with by ing. Karakoz.

The first project of the Port of Ploce, made by engineer Boris Karakoz, from 1936

Some of his most significant projects include the realization of the protection of the tunnels of the Dubrovnik hydroelectric power plant in the Port of Plat, the preparation of the Port of Metković for work, creation of the first objects at the port of Gaženica near Zadar and maintaining the navigability of the Neretva. Of all the above, the design of the Port of Ploče is certainly one of its greatest achievements. At that time, the Port of Metković, one of the business units of Luke Ploče, was a busy transport center for the railroad that ended there. Observing the river Neretva and the Gulf at the port for years, Engineer Karakoz completed the survey in 1936, and began planning the city and the Port of Ploče. The final project was approved on November 30, 1938, and the next year the construction by mining the Zminjac hill, which was located in today’s pier 2, began.

The construction of the Port of Ploče, over the years, has encountered numerous obstacles, which attempted to show the entire project as unimportant and too expensive.

The Port of Ploče and the railway were put into operation on July 15, 1945, which is officially considered the beginning of the port of public transport.

Boris Karakos was certainly one of the key people entrusted to shape and “breathe life” into the future Port of Ploče, which today, after more than 70 years, is one of the most successful business stories.

THE HISTORY OF THE PORT OF PLOČE THROUGH IMAGES
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