The story of Korčula's shipbuilding dates back several millennia when prehistoric communities inhabited the island of Korčula, as evidenced by numerous pieces artifacts found in Vela Spila, located in Vela Luka.

The story continues with the arrival of Greek colonists in the 6th century BC, and the first time Korčula shipbuilding is officially mentioned is in the Korčula Statute from 1214 where numerous provisions on shipbuilding are mentioned as well as penalties of the Communal Council for illegal logging. Historical sources also testify that in the XV. century ‘Karaka’ were built - among the largest ships of the time.

Numerous books and scientific papers have been written about the history of Korčula shipbuilding, but its importance was especially emphasized in the middle of the 19th century, when shipbuilding reached its peak. In the period from 1853 to 1858, the Korčula shipyards ranked third among Austro-Hungarian shipyards in terms of the total tonnage of ships produced and in terms of the number of employees, after Trieste (Italy) and Mali Lošinj (Croatia).

In recent history, with the arrival of steamships and the wooden sailing ships, Korčula shipbuilders were forced to adapt to the new situation and started producing wooden boats for coastal navigation for fishing, transport and leisure. Older people in Korčula nostalgically remember famous shipyards’ (lat. Squeri famosi), sounds of hammers, saws and songs of local shipbuilders that used to build small but high quality wooden ships from the rich forests of the island.