It's just a question of when our ships will stop in one of the ports and be sold at auction, so I think it's better for us to do that and settle the debts, so that at least something will be left to return to the state, Vladimir Tadić, executive director of the company "Crnogorska plovidba" AD Kotor, announced today.
He stated in a statement that the money from the budget has so far gone to the artificial maintenance of this company.
He also said that after all the newspaper headlines and "sniping", he feels the need to speak out again and present to the Montenegrin public the real situation in the company of which he is the executive director.
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"We thank everyone who pays attention to Crnogorska plovidba (CP) and we support the need for the public to hear different opinions. I have already called on all media representatives to contact us directly with any questions they may have and any information they may need, both upon request and by personally scheduling an interview at the CP premises," Tadić emphasized.
He added that this is an extremely challenging moment for the company, especially the seafarers who are trying to improve the situation on the ship and enable it to somehow sail despite all the difficulties.
"Various announcements are doing a disservice to all of us at CP, and especially to the seafarers on board, because some of the allegations are simply not true. And by spreading falsehoods, the situation is complicated and people are demotivated to persevere in their efforts to save what can be saved. Many of them are putting their professional and human capacities at risk in order to get the ship out of the water, and this is being relativized and devalued," said Tadić.
He referred specifically to the ship "Kotor".
"It is a ship that is worse than the ship 'Dvadesetprvi Maj' and with which the company has constantly had problems, some of which have not been resolved for two years. The air conditioning on the ship is not functioning properly despite the visits of several repairmen, so the temperature in the cabins and common areas cannot be lowered below 30 degrees and the seafarers work and rest in extremely poor conditions. Not to mention other failures in the rudder, S/Band radar, UV lamps, fire protection system, poor hydraulic pipes, frequent blackouts of the main engine, failures of auxiliary engines, compressors and other problems that we encounter every day because these are Chinese-built ships of very poor quality," said Tadić.
He noted that he took over as CEO at the beginning of February this year, and that he found the company had a negative balance in the previous year of 778.000 euros, that debts to suppliers amounted to around 500.000 euros, of which around 300.000 euros were expired currencies and should have been paid last year.
"I also found a problem with an unpaid overdraft loan with Prva Banka in the amount of 400.000 euros, and a debt to the state in the amount of over 36.000.000 euros. I determined that the rents in the amount of 7.000-8.000 US dollars were not enough to cover daily operating costs, let alone for some profit necessary to repay debts and collect the necessary funds for the regular five-year overhaul of ships, which at the end of next year will amount to 1.500.000-2.000.000 dollars per ship, not to mention the purchase of other ships in order to renew the fleet, and thus continue the work of this company. All this indicated that the end of the business was very close because there is no magician who can bring this failed project out of this situation," said Tadić.
He said that he had informed the competent Ministry of Maritime Affairs about all of this, but that work had continued in order to give another chance to somehow get out of this situation with the help of cooperation with Barska plovidba.
"But then the ship 'Kotor' had problems, first in Colombia and then in America. When the ship arrived at the port in Colombia, the engine failed, the seal on the second cylinder burst and the engine lost compression, they lost propulsion and only the quick reaction of the tugboat saved the ship from running aground on a nearby island, about 20 meters away. After repairs, the ship continued towards the port, but then the seal on the fourth cylinder burst and the ship was again without propulsion. The port authorities threw it out at anchor and demanded a visit from Class BV and testing of the ship, which all together caused a cost of 120.000 dollars. It continued towards America, again the engine failed and the crew was forced to drive the ship in emergency mode and so it traveled to the port of Jacksonville and then to the port of Savannah, where we were visited by the ITF and then the Coast Guard, who found certain irregularities, so the ship was detained, which was its third detention in the last two years, which risked losing its class and withdrawing its certificate," Tadić said.
He said that for this reason, the classification society Bureau Veritas ordered a detailed inspection of the ship and their inspector found over 30 irregularities that needed to be eliminated, which have not been eliminated to this day.
"This cost in America will cost over $1.000.000 and we as a company have no way of paying it, so we risk the ship remaining there and being sold at auction in exchange for the payment of these debts. For this reason, I alerted the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and asked them for an immediate response, and given that any financial assistance or even a guarantee would be illegal due to Chapter 8 - Competition, the only solution is to propose placing a lien on the ship for the debts in question in order to get it out of that port, and given that there is no way to repay this and other debts without selling the ship, because with our business in the current market conditions, there is no way to regularly service our obligations, let alone repay these debts," said Tadić.
According to him, it is also realistic to expect lawsuits from cargo owners and charterers for non-compliance with the contract, which, Tadić adds, will certainly amount to millions.
"So, it's just a question of when our ships will dock in one of the ports and be sold at auction, so I think it's better for us to do that and settle the debts, so that at least something will be left to return to the state. I'm writing all this so that citizens are informed about the situation of our company, because they are, among other things, its owners and that the money from the budget has so far gone to the artificial maintenance of this company. I hope that in this way I will put an end to this 'Turkish soap opera' into which newspaper articles are turning a situation that is more than challenging because the situation should be accepted as such, and anyone who thinks that these ships have a future can buy them and realize their ideas," said Tadić.
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