Cummins' Croatian dealer powers Scenic's river-cruise yachts and dominates its local marine market
Cummins Adriatic, a family-owned business near Split in Croatia, services more than 1,500 vessels and has just celebrated the maiden voyage of Scenic Group's Emerald Kaia.
- more than 1,500
- more than 90%
- 2,000-2,700 hp
- 128
What Happened
Cummins Adriatic, a family-owned business based near Split in Croatia, began life as ABP Diesel and has used 31 years of steady growth to dominate the installation of marine engines and transmissions in its local territory. The company handles the service, maintenance and repair of more than 1,500 vessels, including 50 large ships, and controls more than 90% of small passenger marine business in its territory. Among that large-ship work are three super yachts built for Australian luxury cruise operator Scenic Group, a relationship that produced a world first. The Emerald super yachts are built in Vietnam and specially designed to reach ports and harbours only small yachts can enter, operating on European rivers including the Rhine, Main, Moselle, Danube, Rhône, Saône and Douro as well as the Mekong and Irrawaddy in south-east Asia.
more than 90%
The dealer also services more than 1,500 vessels, among them 50 large ships, and employs 20 mechanical and electrical engineers at its Dugopolje headquarters.
ABP Diesel is formed by three friends who left posts at a large Croatian shipyard to set up as a Cummins dealer as the war between Bosnia and Herzegovina was ending.
An informal meeting with a senior designer, a fellow Croatian working on a Scenic project to be built in Vietnam, leads Cummins Adriatic to quote on the Emerald yachts.
The 110m Emerald Azzura welcomes her first guests; Cummins Adriatic supplied the world's first IMO III-compliant QSK60 marine engines for a commercial venture.
Emerald Sakara, with exactly the same mechanical set-up as the Emerald Azzura, is launched.
Emerald Kaia completes her maiden voyage from Limassol in Cyprus to Athens.
“We asked if we could quote on it, and to our great delight, Scenic took us on board. We ended up specifying IMO III twin QSK60-Ms for main propulsion; three Cummins QSK19-DM powered generator sets with Stamford alternators for auxiliary power; and a QSB7-powered emergency genset.”
- 128, or 28 more than her sister ships
- 2,700 tonnes heavier than her sister ships
- 10m longer and 2m wider, yet reached higher speeds than projected
ABP Diesel was formed in 1995 when three friends left one of Croatia's big shipyards; Bruno Segvic was moved to leave after being handed a list of about 200 people he was told to fire, having worked side by side with them for 10 years. Ten years into ABP's life, after a visit from Mike Green, former group managing director of Cummins Engine Company for Central Europe, the firm was invited to become the official Cummins dealer for Croatia, and the same year Bruno Segvic and his two partners started sister company Cummins Adriatic. In September 2015 ABP Diesel was folded into Cummins Adriatic, which was also appointed an authorised dealer for three other marine equipment specialists: D-I Industrial (Dong), Kobelt and FW Murphy. Vlado Segvic joined in 2009 and was largely responsible for introducing an own-label automation package, and 20 mechanical and electrical engineers now work at the Dugopolje headquarters, which is expanding into a new facility this year. "Vlado and his team are great at developing innovative solutions that complement Cummins products," said Ventsislava Shahanova, Cummins Marine Sales Manager, who added: "It's good to see them actively reinvesting in workforce expansion, warehouse capacity, and technical capabilities. They are a wonderful long-term, loyal partner."
- A V-16, four-stroke powerhouse delivering 2,000-2,700 hp
- A modular common-rail fuel system that optimises combustion and dramatically reduces noise, vibration and harshness (NVH)
- Low-temperature aftercooling and robust iron pistons designed for continuous duty
- A compact footprint and simplified plumbing for seamless integration, backed by Cummins' global support network
- Advanced selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to meet stringent emissions standards without sacrificing transient response
Why this matters
Cummins Adriatic's scale shows how a regional, family-owned dealer can win and keep specialist marine contracts, including a world-first emissions installation. Its Scenic Group yachts carry passengers on European rivers and in south-east Asia, so the service network behind them reaches far beyond Croatia.
Terms in This Story
- IMO III
- A nitrogen-oxide emissions standard set by the International Maritime Organization for marine engines.
- Selective catalytic reduction (SCR)
- An exhaust aftertreatment technology that uses a catalyst to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions from an engine.
- NVH
- Noise, vibration and harshness — the measures of how loud and how rough an engine feels in operation.
- Automation (maritime)
- The use of control systems such as sensors, computers and actuators to manage and monitor engine room operations.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.