"Vasily" was sentenced to six measures

The inspection of the ferry "Vasilije", which is part of the fleet of the Public Company for the Management of Maritime Resources on the ferry line Kamenara - Lepetani, showed several deficiencies related to the safety of navigation, which were ordered to be eliminated within 10 days.

”Vijesti” received the report on inspection supervision under the Law on Free Access to Information from the Ministry of Capital Investments - Directorate for Inspection Supervision in Maritime and Inland Transport.

The inspection of the ferry was carried out on March 9, and a day later Morsko dov took over the ship. "News" from this state-owned company did not respond to questions sent on March 14 with a request to comment on the inspection findings and to announce what they have done to bring the ship to an optimal condition from the point of view of safety.

The inspection was carried out by the navigation safety inspector, captain Grandma Dudic. The subject of surveillance, which, as written in the minutes, was also attended by the commander of "Vasilija", captain Vido Moshkov, were "means of life-saving, fire-fighting means, safety in general, cargo, superstructure, mooring devices and equipment".

In the minutes, it is written that the inspection determined that the means of rescue on the ship "are in the required number from the certificate, marked and stacked in the place for use in the event of an emergency", that most of the fire-fighting equipment and means "are in working order, in sufficient number and without defects", that the devices and equipment for mooring are "in an acceptable condition", and that "safety in general, which concerns the closing of car loading ramps, is in an acceptable condition, with no visible signs of hydraulic leaks".

"Individual hooks on watertight doors in the superstructure need to be worked out and freed from deposits of rust and paint. The general condition of the ship inside and out is in an acceptable condition, with minor cosmetic intervention of rust removal and painting both inside and out," the minutes say.

Dudić prescribed six administrative measures that had to be implemented within ten days. Among these measures are to remove the accumulated rust from the ship and carry out its painting, as well as, in accordance with the Law on Protection against Pollution from Vessels, to place municipal waste bins on the ship and to close the sanitary facilities on the ship and ensure that they are not used. until obtaining a certificate on sea pollution with fecal waste.

Furthermore, to request professional help and permission from the Technical Inspectorate (Maritime Safety and Port Management Administration of Montenegro-UPSUL) so that the ship's safety plan is certified by the technical inspectorate, that the fire boxes should be complete with hoses, wrench and nozzle, and hooks on the watertight door to work out and put into operation.

"Vijesti" consulted two experienced long-sea captains and a master of fire and accident prevention in connection with the inspection report. All three were of the opinion that a ship with two defects related to defective equipment in the fire boxes and a defect with watertight doors, should not be allowed to sail until they are rectified.

One of the long-haul captains whom "Vijesti" consulted and who has decades of experience in numerous PSC controls around the world on the ships he commanded emphasized that anywhere else in the world a ship with such defects would be immediately banned from sailing until they are rectified.

"The inspector can meet, so if by the end of the inspection the crew takes care of it (which they can) then he would not stop them because of that. Watertight doors are another story. They are a barrier to fire and to some extent water. If they cannot close, then the "fire integrity" of the ship is compromised and there is no looking through the fingers. The door simply needs to work and close properly. This means that they seal, that they do not leak, that they have hinges with all visions, and that they are purpose-made fireproof ship doors, not some anodized or room doors. If more handles don't work - no sailing until it's fixed. The inspector is not interested in whether the crew needs five minutes or five days for that, but he immediately stops the ship", said the interlocutor of "Vijesti".

A few days after "Vasilije" took over the maintenance of the line, the UPSUL technical inspectorate performed an extraordinary technical inspection and changed its certificate from a ro-ro cargo ship for the transport of construction operations and cargo to a ro-ro passenger ship certificate valid until January 16, 2024. years. In order to achieve this, two days after it started transporting vehicles and passengers between Kamenar and Lepetan, the missing new personal and collective rescue equipment was purchased from a company in Tivat, which the ship did not have in sufficient numbers until then. The extraordinary inspection and issuance of a new certificate were done after the Association of Sea Captains of the Merchant Navy publicly appealed to the authorities to conduct an extraordinary technical inspection.