Around 11.40am local time on Sunday 14 June 2026, a scheduled fast-ferry run across the Adriatic ended in the worst kind of accident. The high-speed catamaran Krilo Eclipse, operated by Kapetan Luka on its regular Split–Hvar service, struck a French-flagged charter sailing yacht in the Splitska vrata channel, the narrow strait between the islands of Brač and Šolta near Split. The yacht sank. Four of the eight people aboard her died.
The detail that separates this from the usual collision report is who is now in custody. The person under arrest crews the passenger vessel, which was carrying 125 people. The skipper of the small boat is not the one being held.
What happened in the channel
The catamaran was carrying 118 passengers and seven crew. None of them were hurt. The sailing yacht, heading toward Hvar after departing the Trogir area, was under engine power when the two boats hit, with eight Czech citizens aboard, including the skipper.
The yacht went down fast in deep water. Police divers later located the wreck at 50 to 60 metres. Four survivors were pulled from the water and taken to hospital in Split with injuries described as not life-threatening, and given medical and psychological support.
The toll was unclear at first. Initial reports on 14 June counted three dead and one missing. The next day, Monday 15 June, divers recovered the fourth body from inside the sunken hull, confirming four deaths — all Czech nationals from the yacht.
The arrest
On Wednesday 17 June, Croatian authorities arrested a 33-year-old first officer of the Krilo Eclipse. Interior Minister Davor Božinović confirmed the suspect was in custody on suspicion of breaching navigation safety regulations. He was the one navigating when the boats hit; the captain was off the controls and was not detained.
The suspected offence concerns maritime-traffic safety. With multiple deaths involved, a conviction carries three to fifteen years. As of the latest reporting, the State Attorney's Office had yet to decide on pre-trial detention.
Worth stating plainly what is established and what is not. The man is arrested on suspicion. He has been convicted of nothing. Investigators suspect the first officer had a clear line of sight to the sailing boat and failed to take avoidance action in time — that is the working hypothesis behind the suspicion, a long way from a finding. The cause of this collision is still open.
A human-factor question
If the investigators' theory holds, this is about people, not hardware. The catamaran reportedly held all required documentation, according to the Split harbour master. The line of inquiry sits squarely on navigation and collision-avoidance: whether the officer on the controls saw what he should have seen and did what he should have done.
That framing matters for anyone running a commercial vessel on a busy charter route. Splitska vrata is short — roughly a nautical mile long — and packed in summer, with ferries on fixed timetables threading through charter fleets under sail and engine. A multi-fatality collision between a scheduled passenger ferry and a yacht is genuinely rare on this stretch of water.
Željko Kuštera, Split Harbour Master:“A great tragedy. Nothing like this in 35 years at the Harbour Master's Office.
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Two investigations, and the people behind the numbers
Two oversight tracks are running in parallel. The criminal side sits with Croatian police and the State Attorney's Office, who decide liability and detention. The safety side sits with Croatia's Agency for the Investigation of Accidents in Air, Sea and Rail Transport, which is after cause, not blame. The yacht's skipper has reportedly left Croatia since the accident, and his own legal standing — witness or otherwise — is unresolved.
Behind the figures are families. Among the four who died were Jiřina and Petr, a couple from Bolatice in the Czech Republic, repeat visitors to Croatia who left behind two daughters and grandchildren. The other two victims have not been publicly named.
Sit with the unusual detail: the person navigating the passenger ferry is under suspicion. The yacht's skipper is not detained.
For owners and charterers in Dalmatia this summer, there is no neat lesson here. Only the reminder that right-of-way and a clear horizon count for nothing if the watch on the other vessel isn't keeping it. The investigation will take months. The four people lost in the Splitska vrata are not coming back.
Photo: the fast ferry Krilo Eclipse, by Wolfgang Fricke / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). Source: Croatia Week.
