During the establishment ceremony, the cluster signed a letter of intent with 24 companies, 18 of which are from Sisak County.
The cluster's office was opened in the town of Sisak, 50 kilometres southeast of Zagreb, six weeks ago.
The first tasks of the cluster are to offer overhaul services for river vessels.
At the next stage, the cluster will hep construct a shipyard for river boats.
On this occasion, cluster representatives urged government officials to recognise the importance of inland waterways and the significance of the Sava River in that context.
Last year. a new slipway was constructed on the bank of the Sava River at the village of Galdovo near Sisak. The slipway was built by the Sisak Port Authority and it is the only river slipway in Croatia with boat-yard services. The slipway offers services such as ship overhaul, technical inspection and maintenance.
The Galdovo slipway overhauls ten vessels annually.
The cluster plans to enable the overhaul and technical inspection of about 50 river vessels annually.
Croatia currently has some 300 river boats whose average age is 25 years.
In Croatia, transport by inland waterways covers a mere one percent of the annual transport of goods, and in the European Union, transport by inland waterways accounts for one quarter of the entire annual transport of goods.