In a former salt warehouse in Portorož, a group of shipbuilders under the supervision of Tomi Sinožič is creating a traditional ship called an Istrian topo. It took the shipbuilders one month to build the frame of the wooden ship, and the vessel is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

The construction of the single-mast ship is overseen by Uroš Hribar, a curator at the Maritime Museum of Piran, and it is being built as part of a cross-border project called Mala barka 2.

More traditional ships along the Slovenian coast?
According to the Maritime Museum, the project could revive a traditional craft that was once very popular along the Slovenian coast. The museum also believes that the Monfort salt warehouse could be turned into a “škver”, a traditional Istrian shipyard for wooden vessels.

“The shipyard could showcase traditional shipbuilding, and traditional ships could line our coast – just like in Betina and Rovinj. This could attract more tourists, so that’s a great challenge for us. We need more political support for the project. If we do this right, we could build something new here. This project has lots of potential, especially for young people,” said Franco Juri, the director of the Maritime Museum.

And since the former salt warehouse is open to the public, anyone can visit it to see how the traditional Istrian ship is being built.