This is the third of four ship launches planned for this year at the Rijeka shipyard and the second of two 183-metre long and 32-metre wide oil tankers built for the Spanish client.
The construction of the Santiago I started in late December 2015, it was supervised by the maritime classification society Lloyd's Register, and the vessel will sail under the Cypriot flag.
Grabar-Kitarovic congratulated the shipyard's workers who built the ship, stressing that they had again confirmed the tradition and competence of the Rijeka shipyard as a company capable of building the most complex ships as well as the high place of the Croatian shipbuilding industry in the global shipbuilding industry.
The director of the Rijeka shipyard, Domagoj Klaric, said thanked the Spanish client for having recognised the shipyard's competence and deciding to have "3. maj" build ships for it after the shipyard's restructuring and integration with the Uljanik Group.
The owner of Marflet Marine, Carlos Cremades, said that the construction of the tanker was a continuation of the long and successful cooperation between the two companies, noting that he was proud that his company had its ships built at "3. maj" also during the 1990s and Croatia's Homeland War, when many clients were leaving Croatian shipyards.