Kamenari-Lepetane Car Ferry (Montenegro)

[hhvferry]

Kamenari-Lepetane Car Ferry (Montenegro)

Chaos on the Kamenari-Lepetane car ferry as the Prime Minister Dritan Abazović (see previous post) deemed the dubious permanent licence to operate the ferry service a few years ago was part of the country's corruption problem and that the licence should be stripped from the incumbent operator, Pomorski saobraćaj.

Kamenari-Lepetane ferry © Pomorski saobracaj

Rather than put in place a new, transparent, term-limited tendering process for a new licence, the existing arrangement was summarily terminated and now Pomorski saobraćaj, who own the six ships which have operated this service essentially since it began in its modern conception, have withdrawn them (Seafrance-like, new acquisitions have been used to expand the fleet rather than retiring any of the old ships so the six vessels have been in service on the link between 57 and 12 years).

The rapidly cobbled-together use instead of a single ex-Jadrolinija car ferry was never going to suffice and queues several kilometres long have rapidly built up today with current advice being to avoid the area entirely.

A bit of background: This is one of the world's oldest car ferry operations, dating back to the turn of the last century (albeit it was largely horse-drawn wagons and primitive craft in those days). And the need for a ferry service is obvious with a look at where Kamenari and Lepetane are on the map where the link saves a long (but spectacularly scenic) detour around the bay of Kotor.

This is the announcement on Pomorski saobracaj's website:

Public announcement

Kamenari-Lepetane ferry © Pomorski saobracaj

We hereby inform the valued users of our services and the interested Montenegrin public that today, on 17/02/2023 (Friday at 4 p.m.), we received the Decision of the Director of JPMD, Mr. Mladen Mikijelj, on the unilateral termination of the Agreement (and Annex to the Agreement) with our Company.

Thus, all our rights and obligations, related to the performance of passenger and vehicle line transportation on the route Kamenari - Lepetane, cease to be valid, as stated: "The decision is final and enters into force on the day of its adoption:"

For such a sudden, untimely and unannounced ordered suspension traffic, we apologize to the respected users of our services. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank you for the long-term cooperation. We will inform the public in detail about all relevant developments as soon as possible.

Pomorski saobracaj LTD

Source: https://ferry.co.me/en/blog/public-anno ... /notice-20

Kamenari-Lepetane ferry © Pomorski saobracaj

This is what Prime Minister Abazović said about this ferry service last week:

They took a lot of money. We would have been able to build ten hospitals from the [amounts paid out] for the Kamenari-Lepetane line between 2010 and 2020.
Let the new concession be announced, let anyone bid for it, but in a legal way. Until then... we will not allow anyone to humiliate the state of Montenegro again.

Sources: https://www.cdm.me/ekonomija/trajektna- ... esec-dana/

https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/ekonomij ... i-lepetani

[hhvferry]

This is the replacement single-ship service. The ship is the Vasilije ex-Borik which was built for Jadrolinija in 1978 and operated for them until 2009.


The ferry line Kamenari–Lepetane is not completely suspended.

The Vasilije ex-Borik - RT HN/novosti.rs

Instead of a Pomorski saobraćaj vessel, the "Vasilije" ferry of the "Briv" company will transport vehicles and passengers on this route.

"JP "Morsko dobro" will organize the transportation of passengers and vehicles for free until further notice. We thank all citizens in advance for their understanding and patience in the coming days, until we put this work on the Kamenari - Lepetane ferry line to full capacity. The true face of the "responsible people" and the companies that collected several million euros a year in their pockets from state resources obtained without concession over a decade was shown and how patriotically they are now thanking all the citizens of Herceg Novi, Tivat and Montenegro" said. the chairman of the board of directors of Morski Dobr Blažo Rađenović on his Facebook profile.


Source: https://www.novosti.rs/crna-gora/vesti/1204797/preko-veriga-jednim-trajektom-pored-obustave-pomorskog-saobracaja-omogucena-veza-kamenari-lepetane

[hhvferry]

The temporary nature of the Vasilije's use on the Kamenari–Lepetane ferry line is demonstrated here. A bit of manual labour is needed to work the ramps 😄


Source: [Translated]From the Vasilije ferry: Muscles are needed to lower the ramp VIDEO

[hhvferry]

As the lengthy queues to travel on the Kamenari–Lepetane ferry stretch into the new working week, residents who were today celebrating the annual carnival down the road in Tivat didn't fail to bring up what this media report refers to as "the inept takeover of the only ferry line in Montenegro by the state".

The centrepiece of the carnival is the burning of the 'Kapo di Promese', where an effigy is put on trial, convicted and burned on the pier to reflect the failure of political and civic leaders to deliver on their promises. This year a little red-hulled ferryboat (bearing an approximation of the former incumbent operator's Perast, Lepetane or Kamenari) accompanied the Kapo in his fiery demise.

Kapo di Promese 2023 via Boka News

Kapo di Promese 2023 via Boka News

Video of the event:




News source: Kapo di Promese burned in the fire of disappointed expectations

[hhvferry]

More on the Kamenari–Lepetane ferry. The local authorities told the previous incumbent Pomorski saobracaj to move all its ships and equipment away from the ferry berths last week. And so they did, with the six vessels moving all at the same time to lay up in Bijela.

This video captures the quite unique moment the six ships left their home for what may well be the final time - some of these ships had been operating on this route for almost six decades until the cancellation of the contract.

[hhvferry]

A small amount of relief for the chaos on the Kamenari–Lepetane line: a second ex-Jadrolinija ship has been identified to reinforce the current one-ship operation in the shape of the Prizna, which was retired and sold by the Croatian company at the back end of last year.

The Prizna is a most interesting ship, and one of the quiet heroes (heroines?) of Croatia's war years. She was built in 1970 for Sweden's National Highways Authority as one of those yellow-hulled, essentially floating roadways you see particularly in the Stockholm area. Jadrolinija bought her in 1991 for the short Prizna to Žigljen operation. During the war, with routes down the mainland cut off, the Prizna-Žigljen route suddenly became very busy as it was used as an alternative, being able to pass up or down the island of Pag instead. So the ship and her Žigljen fleetmates were under tremendous pressure, running 24 hours a day.

The Prizna at Žigljen

None of which is helping her in her proposed new role, as the local media focus on the ship's age instead.

[Translated]
More than half a century old ferry arrives in Montenegro: "Prizna" comes from Croatia

The first of a total of six ferries for which the public company Morsko dobro from Budva has received the government's green light for immediate purchase or rental, the ship "Prizna", should arrive in Boka Kotorska by the end of this week, "Vijesti" has learned.

According to unofficial information, Morsko dobro already bought this ship in Croatia, which was recently retired by the local state shipping company "Jadrolinija" from Rijeka due to its age and insufficient capacity.


Source: https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/drustvo/645157/u-crnu-goru-stize-vise-od-pola-vijeka-stari-trajekt-prizna-dolazi-iz-hrvatske

[hhvferry]

Meanwhile this report gives a lot more background on this issue including some allegations about why Montenegro's Prime Minister Dritan Abazović terminated the existing ferry contract.

[Translated]
The ferry line Kamenari - Lepetane, which connects the shores of the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, has been maintained for seven days by only one ferry, the "Vasilije", which was previously used for construction works and transshipment at sea.

In addition to its small capacity (it can only transport 20 cars, which causes huge crowds on both sides of the coast for days) the vessel is questionable from the safety aspect as well.

"If you are not sure about the ferry service 'Vasilije', you have the option of going around (the bay)," said the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Dritan Abazović, on February 22, to a journalist's inquiry about the use of a vessel without a license and insurance for that job.

According to a document that RSE had access to, the Bar Maritime Safety Administration only issued a seaworthiness certificate to the Vasilije on February 22, five days after it began transporting passengers between Kamenar and Lepetan.

Previously, the Association of Sea Captains of Montenegro urgently invited inspections and the Maritime Safety Administration to determine its seaworthiness.

"We also invite the Government to, in the light of security, consider the decision that a company that has no experience in maritime management should be the carrier of this maritime activity," the Association stated.

The owner of "Vasilija", 45 years old, is Briv Construction from Kotor, registered for the construction of buildings.


How did it all begin?

At the beginning of February, the Government took over the management of the ferry line Kamenari - Lepetane, which shortens the route from the direction of Tivat to Herceg Novi by 30 kilometers, and which was maintained for the previous 19 years by the private company Pomorski Saobracaj.

The government tasked Morsko dobro, which does not have ferries, nor was involved in maritime transport, to take over the ferry line within 45 days until the end of the tender for the award of the concession.

Morsko dobro, a public company, then, by order of the Government, terminated the contract with Pomorski Saobracaj, which maintained the line with three to six ferries, depending on traffic.

At midnight on February 18, Pomorski Saobracaj moored their ferries. They also announced the initiation of a court case, since the contract with Morski Dobro stipulated that they would manage the line until the end of the tender for the concession, which should have been but was never announced.

Pomorski Saobracaj has also asked the Commercial Court to temporarily carry out ferry traffic, until the end of the tender, as stipulated in the annex to the contract that the company signed in 2019 with Morski dobro.

"Even the Prime Minister knows the basis of this. Before making the decision to terminate the contract, he had the opinion of the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro, who decisively said that such a decision could put the state at a high level of risk for compensation," Director of Pomorski Saobracaj, Dejan Ban, told Radio Slobodna Evropa (RSE).


Ferries and politics
Abazović's statements show that this termination of the contract is a political decision, adds Ban.

Namely, Abazović asserted that the owners of Maritime Transport are financiers of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the President of the State, Milo Đukanović.

"These are people who were supposed to finance the presidential campaign of Đukanović. The citizens are no longer ready to put up with the arrogance of the tycoons who set aside a certain percentage for the head of the DPS," said Abazović.

Ban dismissed such claims as baseless.

"That's simply untrue. He didn't give any arguments and now we need to defend ourselves," says Ban.

Pomorski Saobracaj, which was a state-owned company, was bought by the brothers Dejan and Dušan Ban in 2004 during the DPS administration of Milo Đukanović, without a public tender, by purchasing state shares on the stock exchange for 1.2 million euros.

They paid a monthly fee of four percent of the income to the marine reserve.

DPS spokesman Miloš Nikolić called Abazović's statement "a pure lie."

In order for the sea link Kamenari - Lepetane to function at the current level, it is necessary to buy or rent five more ferries.

Abazović announced that his Government will make a decision for the Marine Corps to acquire them through the emergency public procurement procedure, because, as he said, it is a matter of public interest.

Morsko dobo, as a public company, is obliged to apply the Law on Public Procurement, which implies a significantly longer procurement procedure.

The announcement that the Government could release Morsko do from the obligation to buy ferries through a public invitation, for the president of the Social Democratic Party Rasko Konjević, would be an invitation to potential corruption.

"Incompetence and poorly prepared decisions cannot be a justification for exempting a state-owned company from its legal obligations. Therefore, the Special State Prosecutor's Office should monitor every decision on this matter from today," Konjević said on Twitter .
And what do the citizens say?

There are long lines of cars on both sides of the bay near the ferry dock. In order to avoid crowds, even though transportation is currently free, many people decide to go around the bay.

Nikolina and Emilija from Herceg Novi use the ferry every day because they study in Kotor.

"When it's not really an important day at the university, we try not to go, because all that travel takes too long," say these students.

Ivan is among those who choose the longer and more expensive variant.

"I drive around, it takes at least an hour and a half every day in both directions. I prefer to pay (gasoline used) rather than wait".

Nikola also often uses the ferry line, but says that he will "put up with everything" until better times come.

"And the better time is when the state takes the money," says Nikola, convinced that the state will take over the management of the ferry line, even though the government has announced a tender for the award of the concession.

The current solution for the Kamenare-Lepetana ferry line is not sustainable and causes more difficult traffic problems, causing great damage to the economy and citizens, announced the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro (PKCG).

They remind that the arrival of large cruise ships in the Port of Kotor from March will further burden the flow of traffic, which can cause direct damage to the tourist economy, create new bottlenecks and extend the travel time by hours, they said from PKCG.

Trucks and buses also have a problem and cannot use the ferry because of the insufficient size of "Vasilija".

Since February 17, they have been redirected from the ferry to the road along the Bay of Kotor, which is about 30 kilometres.



Source: https://www.slobodnaevropa.org/a/crna-gora-bokokotorski-zaliv-trajekt/32284826.html

[hhvferry]

After a stopover in Dubrovnik the Prizna has now arrived in Montenegro ahead of urgently taking up service to relieve the chaos on the Kamenari-Lepetane ferry line.

Footage of her arriving locally at the start of this video with some views of the single other ship in traffic, the Vasilje, later on.

[hhvferry]

The Prizna doesn't fit the berths on the Kamenari-Lepetane line so they are having to do work to make her fit - this news items says it's to the piers rather than adapting the ship. Either way, there remains only the small Vasilije in service.

The article also highlights the price tag of €570k - which is a profit of €480k for ABM Tours who bought her from Jadrolinija at the end of last year. I bet they can't believe their luck.


"Prizna" cost €570,000 but work will have to be carried out on the docks due to the dimensions of the ramp
The 53-year-old ferry was recently withdrawn from operational use by the local state shipping company "Jadrolinija" from Rijeka due to technological obsolescence and insufficient capacity.

The Prizna © Drago Krivokapić/vijesti.me

06.03.2023. 17:27h
The ferry "Prizna", which Morsko dobro bought in Croatia last Sunday, was paid for €570,000, "Vijesti" learned unofficially.

The 53-year-old ferry was recently scrapped and withdrawn from operational use by the local state shipping company "Jadrolinija" from Rijeka due to technological obsolescence and insufficient capacity.

"Prizna" was sold by "Jadrolinija" for about 90,000 euros to the company ABM Tours from Neviðan in Pašman, and the latter resold the ferry last week to the Montenegrin Morska Dobr.

Until now, the leaders of that state-owned company have not informed the public about the conditions under which they traded this ferry in Croatia.

"Prizna" under a new name and under the Montenegrin flag, according to earlier announcements from Morski Dobr, should start operating on the Kamenari-Lepetane line by the end of this week.

However, according to the unofficial information of "Vijesti", it is not certain that this will actually happen because the boarding ramps on that ferry are of larger dimensions and of a different shape than those on the ferries of the previous operator of the line, the company Pomorski saobraæaj, which is why they will probably have to first construction work is being done on the ferry piers in Lepetani and Kamenari, in order to adapt them to the technical characteristics of the ferry that Morsko dobro bought in Croatia in the greatest haste.

Six ferries of the "Pomorski saobraæaj" company stopped plying on the Kamenari-Lepetane line at midnight on February 17, after the director of Morski Dobr Mladen Mikijelj delivered to that company a document in the afternoon of that day informing them that the contract of that company and JPMD from 2004 with the annex from 2019, which was the legal basis for carrying out ferry operations in Boka, "ceased to be valid".

From then until further, according to the government's decision, the new operator of the line is JPMD, which is maintained with the small ferry-boat "Vasilije", which was given to it free of charge by the construction company "Briv Construction" from Kotor. "Vasilije", which was built in 1978, was not registered as a passenger ship (ferry), but a cargo ship for transporting construction workers.

In the meantime, the Technical Inspectorate of the Maritime Safety and Port Management Administration of Montenegro carried out an extraordinary technical inspection of "Vasilija", whose deficient rescue equipment was quickly supplemented by the urgent purchase of missing belts and buoys, so the ship was also officially certified for performing overseas transportation of vehicles and passengers.

Source: https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/646375/prizna-placena-570-hiljada-eura-morace-da-se-izvode-radovi-na-pristanistima-zbog-dimenzija-rampe

[ropax]

Puuuhhhh - why now so long discuss happens in Montenegro about this small old poor Lepetane-ferry ? With a 53 years old scrap-ferry ? Montenegro is on the waiting-list for to come into EU - every than already built modern infrastructure could help for this plan.  

1) take any newer used ferry from Scandinavia or from Greece for the next couple of years, there are a lot used double-enders available from the 90ies for 1-2 Mio. only.   https://j-gran.no/fartoy-til-salgs/   - much more from Greece available -
2) and start the construction of a new only 250m ridiculous short road-bridge nearby Verige for to replace this bad ferry-service.



This example-picture from the much longer Hardanger-bridge shows how easy it is in a similar mountain-region with a new bridge.
I am really a "ferry-friend" - but here in this case all other solutions than a new bridge are really nonsense.

In Serbia f.ex. Chinese construction-companies are in fastest speed building new highways, bridges, tunnels etc. - so a very small bridge nearby in Montenegro is a really small thing for them. Than 3,- Euro fee per car (today the old ferry costs 4,50) and everything is much better, faster and cheaper for everybody, Montenegro citizen, companies and tourists - and 3-4 people can get work there for the next 30 years to collect the 3,-. 1 small mini-house in the middle with 1 person for both directions is enough, 2 shifts 7:00-16:30 and 16:30-23:00, in the night free, 3rd staff-person at home.





Just for understand: The construction-companies build it 100% free of any costs for the state, if they can get for 30 years the fee from each vehicle. And after the 30 years the bridge is free to use without any fee and the state (not China - but Montenegro or Serbia !) is the owner of the bridge. The old road around the bay is much too narrow and overloaded with cars - so a new bridge will use much more cars than today the old ferry.

[Risberg]

Ceylon and some African states know all about getting "free" investments from China. When I came by train from Cape Town to Dar-es-Salaam viewtopic.php?t=555 in 2001, the first thing the taxi driver from Dar-es-Salaam TAZARA station said to me, was Too many Chinese here.

[ExpressOlympia]

And the Prime Minister's rationale for dismissing the long-standing incumbent operator was due to them essentially (allegedly) defrauding the State; valuable money that could have been spent on hospitals and so on. I imagine €480,000 on its own would have been a valuable input into the State coffers; this just to buy the one vintage ferry… Multiply that by the additional 4 ferries that now need to be purchased, the economic disruption to the region and the possible legal damages that will need to be paid…

[hhvferry]

And the Prime Minister's rationale for dismissing the long-standing incumbent operator was due to them essentially (allegedly) defrauding the State; valuable money that could have been spent on hospitals and so on. I imagine €480,000 on its own would have been a valuable input into the State coffers; this just to buy the one vintage ferry… Multiply that by the additional 4 ferries that now need to be purchased, the economic disruption to the region and the possible legal damages that will need to be paid…

It's hard from this distance to know whose version of truth to rely on. If there is an incumbent who is making easy profits out of the state thanks to a "privatisation" process which they won for political reasons then it's hard to argue with a new government taking the licence to operate off them. But the chaotic way it's been implemented cuts against that. And the desperation prices being paid for vintage ferries when there are six ships laid up just along the coast which have been running the service for years is ridiculous. An orderly transition should have been the priority.

As if to highlight the absurd politicisation of this, the Prizna is, according to the following report, going to be renamed "30. Avgust" in honour of the most recent Montenegran parliamentary elections (30th August 2020) which brought the current coalition of parties to power on an anti-corruption, pro-EU ticket.

The article quotes someone from the new ferry operator saying, ""I think August 30 is a symbol, [the elections] that made it possible to change all the predatory privatizations that happened in the past 30 years."

Mikijelj: Novi trajekt zvaće se 30. avgust, na preporuku Andrije Mandića

[hhvferry]

The former Prizna began service yesterday. New name is officially Trideseti Avgust.

Ferry "Trideseti Avgust" in operation from today
13/03/2023 10:39
Ferry "Trideseti Avgust" operates on the Kamenari-Lepetane line from today
By the decision of the Government of Montenegro, the Public Enterprise for the Management of Maritime Assets is enabled to engage in maritime and coastal passenger transport, as well as passenger transport on inland waterways. The public company started forming its own fleet and purchasing a ferry that will operate on the route Lepetane - Kamenari in the coming period. The first of several ferries that this company will use in the transport of vehicles and passengers is the "Trideseti Avgust" which started running from today.
From "Morski dobr" it was previously announced that by April, in addition to "Vasili" and "Trideseti Avgust", four more ferries will operate on the line.
We remind you that the ferry was purchased for 569,000 euros and was waiting for the registration procedure for the previous days. The ferry is 53 years old, has a capacity of 60 cars and 330 passengers.

Source: https://bokanews.me/trajekt-30-avgust-od-danas-u-funkciji/

[hhvferry]

Some pictures from imgur -










Source: https://imgur.com/V4XEOjB

[ExpressOlympia]

She has clearly had the additional superstructure/framework built on; presumably to provide some open deck seating for her passengers. I'm not sure if this was Jadrolinija who added it or her most recent owners; suggests they would have intended to use her on a longer crossing.

[stivador]

This sundeck was constructed in 2016 because Jadrolinija wanted to operate this ferry on Biograd-Tkon (Pasman) route (1,3 NM travel distance), but locals strongly protested against this decision. Finally, the ship sailed on route for a very short time, only three seasons.

[hhvferry]

A look behind the scenes of the Trideseti Avgust (ex-Prizna) in a video disputing the view that the old ship is unsafe.



Nonetheless, this news story states that the Special State Prosecutor of Montenegro is looking into the purchase (nb the ship was bought from Jadrolinija for €90,000 not the figure quoted here - i.e. the profit made by the lucky Croatian company who owned her for a few months in between her Jadrolinija retirement and the desperate purchase by the Montenegrin authorities is even more than stated):

Montenegrins launched an investigation into the purchase of the ferry "Prizna"

[hhvferry]

A third ship has now been introduced on the link and it's one of the six used by the old operator before their contract was summarily terminated. The Igalo, built in 1982, is not the newest or the largest of the six but she is a capacity and speed upgrade on the pair of Jadrolinija cast-offs which have been struggling to maintain the service for the past couple of months.

This report suggests that the hellish traffic jams have, for now, all but died away with her reintroduction:

Traffic normalised after the lease of the Igalo ferry

[hhvferry]

The end is drawing near for this farce....

Last week the President of the Governing Board of the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management, Blazo Radjenovic, said that a third ship for the Kamenari-Lepetane route had been acquired in the form of the Greek Perama-Salamis ferry Telamon which would be renamed ‘Ruka Pravde’ ("Hand of Justice").

The Telamon © Blažo Rađenović

Then came the news that the six-strong fleet of the former operators of the route had also now been acquired en-bloc (one of them was already on charter). These seven acquisitions, in addition to the two former Jadrolinija ships which were introduced at the start of the saga would leave them with no less than nine vessels.

Here's a local newspaper report:

Morsko Dobro buys the fleet of the Ban brothers

The company Pomorski Saobraćaj will sell its entire fleet of six ferries to the Public Enterprise for the Management of Maritime Assets for a little over eight million euros, "Vijesti" has learned.

This is the result of negotiations conducted by the leaders of the two companies over the past month.

The Grbalj © Pomorski Saobraćaj

In February, by order of the Government, Morsko Dobro took over the management of the Kamenare-Lepetani ferry line from this private company.

According to the unofficial information of "Vijesti", Maritime Transport requested a minimum of 6.7 million euros for six ferries from the state company whose leaders at the beginning of the negotiations were ready to pay a maximum of 5.5 million.

"In the end, an agreement was reached for a price that, with an additional lot with almost 700 items of spare parts and consumables for those ships, is as much as Ban and Mihajlović initially asked for," said the source of "Vijesti", adding that the private company requested that announces a public tender for the purchase of ferries.

The day before yesterday, Morsko Dobro published a tender on the central electronic public procurement portal for the "open procedure of public procurement of six ferries for the transport of vehicles and passengers on the Kamenari-Lepetane route, with spare parts and accompanying equipment". The total estimated value of ships and spare parts is 6,710,600 euros, and VAT is 1,409,226 euros.

In the fleet of Morsko Dobro there are two ferries purchased from Croatia and Greece, which were purchased in a negotiation procedure without prior publication of a call for public tenders, so no VAT was paid for them, as well as two leased ferries, one of which is from the fleet of Pomorski Saobraćaj.

The new tender, in which the Pomorski Saobraćaj ferries are "drawn" in the technical specifications, is open for submission of offers until June 15, when they will be opened.

"Considering that the summer tourist season is almost here and that the number of vehicles using the ferry line is constantly increasing, and taking into account that the lease of one ferry expires at the beginning of June, the capacities of the existing ferries will soon not be sufficient to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. In order to ensure continuous and smooth transportation of vehicles and passengers on the Kamenari-Lepetane route in the summer tourist season, which is of exceptional importance for the entire country, it is necessary to provide additional ferries with appropriate capacities. In accordance with the indicated needs for the provision of additional ferries, we are launching an open public procurement procedure in accordance with Article 54 paragraph 4 of the Law on Public Procurement and we are setting a shorter deadline for submitting bids (not shorter than 15 days) from the date of publication of the tender documentation," the explanation for this procurement reads.

From the tender documentation, it can be seen that Pomorski Saobraćaj and Morsko Dobro have agreed in principle that the three smallest and oldest ferries "Kamenari", "Lepetene" and "Perast", each with a capacity of 21 vehicles, will be purchased by the state company at prices of 110,000, 140,000 and 150,000 EUR without VAT.

The ferry "Igalo" with a capacity of 32 vehicles is estimated at 900,000 euros, while the price of the ferry "Teodo" with the same capacity is 1.7 million euros, also all without VAT.

The price of the largest ferry of Maritime Transport - the ship "Grbalj" with a capacity of 45 cars is 2.8 million euros without VAT, while the price of a lot of spare parts is 910,600 euros, also without VAT.

The tender proposals stipulate that Morsko Dobro will take over five ferries no later than July 15, while the deadline for the delivery of the largest ship can be extended until March 1 of the following year at the latest.

All Maritime Transport ferries have valid papers and a Montenegrin registry class. In addition, the two newest and most valuable ships - "Teodo" and "Igalo" have meanwhile been docked at the Adriatic 42 shipyard in Bijela and inspected by the experts of the Croatian Ship Register from Split, so they also received the HRB class. This allows them to work in the waters of any European Union country without any problems in case of need.

Sources:
Rađenović: New ferry registered under the name "Ruka Pravde"
Morsko dobro buys the fleet of the Ban brothers

[hhvferry]

The Ruka Pravde (ex-Telamon) duly entered service a couple of weeks ago -



The Vasilije, which was the first ship urgently brought into use at the start of the crisis, has now been returned to her owners.

The following news item notes that, the Montenegrin Prime Minister "especially thanked the company Yu Briv which chartered the ferry Vasilije to the state... the Vasilije will receive a special certificate of thanks from the Government of Montenegro."

Source: https://www.dan.co.me/vijesti/ekonomija/mikijelj-ruka-pravde-je-zalog-za-buducnost-crne-gore-5184376

[hhvferry]

The Trideseti avgust (ex-Prizna) is getting a major overhaul.

[Google translated]
Almost half a million for the overhaul and restoration of the class

Morsko dobro will soon announce a public procurement for works on the ferry "Trideseti avgust"

Trideseti avgust © Siniša Luković/vijesti.me

The public enterprise for the management of marine assets will allocate half a million Euros for the regular overhaul and restoration of the old ferry "Trideseti avgust" - almost the same amount of money that the state company paid for that ship in February to its former owner in Croatia.

This results from the seventh in a row of amendments to the public procurement plan of the Maritime Property for this year, which were published on the search engine of the central electronic public procurement - CEJN.

In the new version of the public procurement plan, the item "repair and maintenance of the ferry "Trideseti avgust" was introduced, for which 413,224.14 euros and another 86,776.86 euros for VAT were planned, and it is planned that this procurement will be realized by the end of this year or the beginning of the next year, whereby Morsko dobro has allocated 450,000 euros in this year's budget for the overhaul of this ferry, while the rest of 50,000 will be provided in the Public Procurement Plan for 2024.

This state-owned company did not answer the questions of "Vijesti" regarding the upcoming overhaul of the 53-year-old ferry - does the upcoming overhaul, which will cost half a million euros, prove that Morsko did a bad job by buying that ship for a slightly higher amount because it acquired an old and dilapidated ship that needs to be invested in almost as much money as it paid for, just to maintain and restore the class.

When this ferry was purchased in the spring, it received a "conditional and temporary" certificate of seaworthiness from the Administration of Maritime Safety and Port Management of Montenegro on March 10, when it was registered in the Montenegrin Register of Merchant Ships. The certificate was valid until May 21, with the condition that by that date inspections should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Maritime Safety Administration's technical rules. Two days before the expiration of this period, a "temporary and conditional" Certificate of Ship's Seaworthiness was again issued until October 21, with the same condition to perform the required examinations.

Since the inspections were not done by that deadline, the Morsko dobro ferry was withdrawn from traffic a few days before October 21. In order for the validity of the certificate issued by the Maritime Safety Administration to be extended and "Trideseti avgust" to complete the procedure of the so-called renewal of the class, the old ferry must now be overhauled and docked.

When the ferry was purchased, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Morski dobr, Blažo Rađenović , stated that it was in "exceptional technical condition". However, when "Vijesti" asked him about the upcoming overhaul worth half a million euros, he did not answer whether he still stands by these same claims.

After Morsko good put the ferry into traffic last spring, there was an accident in the engine room, which was first classified as a fire because of the thick smoke that came from the inside of the ship, so Herzegovinian firefighters intervened. However, when they entered the smoky engine room of the ferry, they found that there was no open flame, but that there was friction and tearing of the transmission belts on the pulleys of one of the ship's engines.

Although the leaders of Morski Dobr claimed that the "Trideseti avgust" fully corresponds to the operational coast and the landing slots for ferries in Kamenari and Lepetani and that there is no need to adapt the coast to that ferry, the boarding ramps of the "Trideseti avgust" themselves soon showed that this was not the case. were immediately deformed and peeled off due to friction with the narrow cuts in the piers, as well as the fact that Morsko dobro undertook urgent and unannounced construction work this summer in the middle of the season, during which pickaxes demolished part of the sides of the cut and thus widened them enough for the ramps. On the "Trideseti avgust" and for the large ferry "Ruka Pravde" that was acquired in the meantime.

After its former long-term owner, the Croatian state shipping company Jadrolinija from Rijeka, unsuccessfully offered it for sale twice at a scrap price of around 90,000 euros, this ferry was bought at the end of last year for 252,000 euros by the small company ABM Tours from Neviđan; only a few months later they sold it to the Montenegrin state company Morsko dobro for as much as 569,000 euros. The controversial purchase of this ferry, which Morsko successfully realized through urgent public procurement "by negotiation procedure without prior publication of the call for public tenders", is being investigated by the Special State Prosecutor's Office.

Source: https://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/ekonomija/680439/za-remont-i-obnovu-klase-skoro-pola-miliona

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