Driving past the railway station towards Opatija, you’ll see signposts pointing to “3 Maj”. These are Rijeka’s biggest shipyards, once the largest in the entire former Yugoslavia. They’re named after the date of the liberation of Rijeka during WWII (3 May 1945), but there has been shipbuilding going on here since 1905. In the late 80’s, the Yugoslav shipbuilding industry was so strong that over half its output was exported, contributing billions of dollars to the economy. 3 Maj has produced all kinds of exciting stuff since over the years, including battleships and submarines. Nowadays, trying to do battle in a modern marketplace, they’re also using their expertise with metal in areas like construction and waste management. An even older yard, Viktor Lenac, is having a harder time recovering from the war years, but still works specialising in ship repairs, conversions and offshore work like laying pipelines and building oil rigs – the oil industry is another important part of the economy of the Kvarner region.