Janez Vehovec, CTA-Marine- Subsea Industries representative in Croatia

Janez Vehovec and the company he founded and owns, CTA-Marine, have represented Subsea Industries in Croatia since 2009. Janez is among the longest serving agents we have. He has established excellent relationships with the Croatian shipyards which has led to smooth and productive operations for Subsea Industries in Croatia. It is a valuable cooperation.

After graduating from Rijeka University with a degree in International Business, Janez went on to the Military Academy where he trained as a pilot. “This was also important for my future business,” he says. He worked for ten years with an international company in former Yugoslavia before setting up his own company, where he represented a number of different brands including three in the metals industry and three others involved in ship interiors. It was at SMM in Hamburg that he found out about Subsea Industries when looking for a special paint for ice-classed fishing vessels.

Impressed with Subsea Industries products and the company, in 2009, Janez signed the agency agreement with Subsea and was very soon involved in projects to apply Ecospeed to ships in Croatian shipyards.

M/V Bella Desgagnés Ecospeed ice protection

The first such project was coating the hull of the Canadian shipping company Desgagnés’ M/V Bella Desgagnés with Ecospeed. M/V Bella Desgagnés is a passenger and cargo vessel serving Anticosti Island and the Lower North Shore of Quebec. It accommodates 381 passengers and offers 160 beds in 63 cabins. On the cargo side, it can carry 125 containers and is equipped with a crane with a lifting capacity of 40 mt. The ship frequently sails in ice, for which Ecospeed provides the best protection available. The application was carried out in early 2011 at the Kraljevic shipyard on the Adriatic coast of Croatia. The underwater hull was blasted and then coated with two layers of Ecospeed which has ice-abrasion resistance classification PC1-7. Janez facilitated and attended the coating application. The hull with the new coating was conditioned in South Italy before sailing to Quebec to take up station in Quebec. The conditioning improves the hydrodynamics of the coating which is an essential part of obtaining the best fuel performance for the vessel. The Bella Desgagnés was in drydock last year and the hull coating was still intact and some touch-ups were carried out to restore it to its original state. It held up very well in the ice over the 13 intervening years.

Two newbuild ice-going chemical tankers for Utkilen

The next projects were two newbuild chemical tankers for the Norwegian company, Utkilen. The underwater hulls of the M/V Golfstraum and the M/V Rystraum were both coated with Ecospeed at the 3.Maj (Third May) Shipyard in Rijeka, Croatia. The Golfstraum application was in July 2011 and the Rystraum’s in November of the same year. Janez used his excellent relationship with the shipyard to help organize both of these applications and make sure that they went smoothly and rapidly. “We painted all the weld seams with a stripe coat and two coats of Ecospeed were very carefully applied to the entire underwater hull,” recalls Janez. “We also coated the ice belt since they are ice-going tankers,” he adds. “The underwater hull was very well protected. The Ecospeed was conditioned at 3.Maj after the ships were painted.”

Future projects

Janez has some exciting projects in the pipeline right now involving the cruise industry. Nothing can be published at this point but Janez’s relationships with the shipyards have been very valuable in moving these projects forward.

During the early projects, Janez invited other shipyards to be present while the coating was being applied, which turned out to be an excellent way to spread the word about Subsea Industries coatings in Croatian shipyards.

Working with Subsea Industries

“I can say my favorite firm I have worked with is Subsea Industries,” says Janez who is very positive about the relationship with the company. “Subsea coatings have many, specialized applications. Ecospeed is a very different product, definitely better than the alternative coatings, particularly for ice going vessels.”

“The Ecospeed coating is increasingly used to protect the hulls of military ships,” Janez adds. “After coating a vessel with Ecospeed in the shipyard, the hull is protected from rust and minor mechanical damages for the entire life of the ship, and the hull never needs to be painted again. Since it is cleaned underwater and the slime and grass removed – an operation which can be done efficiently without affecting the ship’s schedule – the vessel retains the hydrodynamic characteristics and speed that it had when it came out new from the shipyard. These benefits are of key importance to military vessels.”

In order to provide the best advice and support to customers, Janez remains in close contact with the Subsea Industries technical personnel. “On any new project I always consult with Subsea Industries in Antwerp and there is a fantastic cooperation,” he says, “I am usually aware of new project or contracts from the very beginning when they come to the shipyard because I have good connections in the shipyards. When I receive the details, I pass them on so that the ship owner can be contacted directly by Subsea Industries. That way we always approach the potential customer together and tackle the sale from all angles. I find our cooperation very good and there is always a rapid response from Subsea.  We’re very, very happy with the cooperation and have no complaints.”

Stay tuned for upcoming news about Ecospeed from Croatia.