Modeling and Management of the Mediterranean and Croatian SSS

In the strategic goals of maritime policy for the period 2005-2009 the European Commission stresses the need for a sustainable environmental development and economic growth. Besides, it points out the necessity for the fulfillment of all maritime potentials. Maritime transport regarding the scope of operation, diversity of transport of goods, vehicles and people, and the possible influence on the world and national economy, and the foreign trade exchange, represents the economic activity which has to be considered with special attention by the government. Intercoastal navigation – short sea shipping (SSS) - manifested very good results, both in economic and ecological justification. The last reports, namely of the European organization of the maritime ports, have been more than positive. Some of them had been mentioned earlier, but it should be emphasized, that currently, the European maritime ports and services (closely connected to their activities) produce some twenty billion euro. This means, that in the final calculation the European maritime industry produces at least a hundred and eleven billion euro annually. The purpose of research of this work is to consider the complexity of the system of ports and berths on maritime navigable routes, their elements and action of the subsystem from the aspect of technology and traffic organization, with the aim at establishing the concept of intercoastal navigation development, which will provide an affordable price of service to all the users without disrupting the legal and ecological standards. In compliance with the existing facts and results of the previous studies of the transport systems, the characteristics of the ports will be studied and the possibility of their reorganization into the intercoastal navigation centers i.e. interfaces of the maritime and land transport. Based on the developed predispositions, preconditions and possibilities, this paper initiates an overview of the administrative, organizational and information levels with exact specification of measures and strategic decisions forming a model that provides all the port system subjects with information on how to establish the intercoastal navigation in the Republic of Croatia and what the advantages of such an established system are.