In the 14th century, the Pelješac peninsula has been under the administration of the Dubrovnik Republic, and since the 17th century, Orebić has been an important centre of its merchant fleet. The maritime tradition did not stop with the arrival of the French administration in the time of Napoleon, nor with entering into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

In 1875, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Joseph also visited Orebić at the grand opening of its shipyard. Within 13 years of operation, three sailing vessels were built there, belonging to the Pelješac Marine Society for the Operation of Seagoing Vessels, founded in 1865.

Orebić was named after a family from Bakar that moved to what was then Trstenica at the end of the 15th century. Here they built a castle to protect themselves from the Turks and pirates, around which the settlement gradually grew.