Croatia builds and repairs ships in Split, Rijeka, Trogir, Kraljevica and Pula, and its yards have relied on foreign trades for a decade. The Philippines is a shipbuilding nation — Subic, Cebu, and the block yards that feed Korean and Japanese builders — and HZZ lists the shipyard trades among the occupations exempt from the labour-market test. The fit is exact.
Croatian shipbuilding survived the 2010s restructuring as a smaller, specialised industry: newbuilding and complex conversions in Split, cruise and naval work in Rijeka, repair at Viktor Lenac, smaller newbuild and yacht work in Trogir, Kraljevica and Pula. What did not survive was the domestic supply of welders and fitters; the yards have run on foreign trades — Bosnian, Serbian, and increasingly Asian — since before Croatia joined Schengen. HZZ recognised this early: ship welders, hull fitters, ship pipe fitters and ship electricians are exempt from the labour-market test.
The Philippines was for years among the world's top-five shipbuilding nations by tonnage, on the strength of Subic Bay and Cebu, and its yard trades have since dispersed to Korea, Japan, Singapore and the Gulf. A Filipino ship welder holds class-witnessed tickets (ABS, DNV, LR, ClassNK) in FCAW, SMAW and GTAW, has welded hull blocks in all positions, and reads a WPS; a hull fitter marks and fits from a drawing; a pipe fitter fabricates spools from isometrics; a marine electrician runs cable to a cable schedule. We source from the yards and from the Gulf fabrication market, and test in Makati to your WPS with NDT on the coupons.
The shipbuilding industry guide explains the global picture; this page is Croatia's part of it.
Pay follows the metal-industry and yard collective agreements; accommodation near the yard must meet the legal standard. Permits run for up to three years, which suits a newbuilding cycle; Croatian A1.1 applies at the first renewal, and yard vocabulary is learned fast among Croatian speakers.
The route is Croatia's combined residence-and-work permit: you file one application online through the joint HZZ/MUP platform, HZZ runs the labour-market test unless the occupation is on its exemption list and gives its opinion on your eligibility, MUP decides within 90 days, and the permit runs for the contract period — up to three years, depending on the route. Before anything is filed we check the 2026 employer conditions — €100,000 turnover over the last twelve months, at least one Croatian or EEA employee for the previous year, Croatian/EEA staff at 20 % of third-country headcount (10 % for exempt occupations), no arrears, adequate accommodation.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Vienna, which has jurisdiction for Croatia, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. The Philippine ban on direct hiring applies; the employer is always your company, directly — the Croatian permit is issued to you, not to an agency.
Everything here is subject to the Foreigners Act as amended (NN 40/2025, NN 55/2026), the HZZ exemption list in force and MUP practice.
Yes — send the WPS and positions; coupons are welded in Makati and NDT-checked, with results before the interview.
Standard permits run for the contract period; for peak campaigns the multi-year structure lets a yard keep a core crew and rotate.
Yes — the same trades for the outfitting, piping and electrical subcontractors around each yard.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.