Scenic Group Chairman and Founder Glen Moroney showcased the €170 million six-star Scenic Eclipse II to Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković after it was delivered to the Australian cruise and travel company last week. The presentation of the second Discovery Yacht – which cut its first steel inside three years ago and was entirely built in Croatia – was made ahead of the sail away from the 3 Maj Shipyard in Rijeka on Thursday.
Accompanied by Sasa Cokljat, Managing Director of MKM Yachts, Edi Kučan, Director of 3. Maj Shipyard and other executives, Moroney welcomed PM Plenkovic aboard Scenic Eclipse II, where he inspected the yacht’s nerve centre, aka – its high-tech bridge – public spaces including Koko’s restaurant, and he was presented with a commemorative model of the ultra-luxury vessel.
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“Today we celebrate not only the launch of a new luxury research cruiser, but also the persistence and collective effort that has brought us here today, where Eclipse II has been built from scratch,” Moroney said.
“This project once again confirmed for us an important lesson that we have learned through the years of working in Croatia, namely that Croatia has a valuable, extremely high-quality engineering staff, as well as hardworking and skilled shipbuilders.”
“When you combine that with the great project management by the MKM Yachts team, you get an outstanding result like this.
“I can proudly say that we have found great partners in Croatia, primarily in the 3. Maj shipyard, to whom I hereby thank for their excellent cooperation, and in the Government of the Republic of Croatia, which provided all the prerequisites for this project to come true, and whose support we count on in the future as well so that, as before, we would find quality and sustainable solutions for the realisation of future projects,” Moroney was reported to have said by local media.
Prime Minister Plenković said: “The entrepreneurial spirit and vision that Mr. Moroney brought first to the Uljanik shipyard in Pula, and now here on Maj 3, created another pearl of Croatian shipbuilding and made a huge contribution to Croatian industry, as well as to the numerous workers and subcontractors who contributed their knowledge and his work in Eclipse II.
“I am here in Rijeka today with a sense of pride, convinced that our cooperation will continue, and that in the future, we will build new fascinating ships that will be a kind of heritage of Croatian shipbuilding,” said the PM.
Sailing away from Rijeka last Thursday evening, Scenic Eclipse II is en route to Lisbon, via the Italian coastline, the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar. Currently docked in Málaga, Spain the 228-passenger ship will disembark on its maiden voyage to Barcelona on 13 April.