Propellers and swimmers do not go together: Ministry does not back down from banning motorized vessels from entering the Blue Cave

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs will not abandon the provision of the recently adopted Regulation on Navigation Safety, Reporting and Management of Maritime Traffic, which includes a ban on entry into the Blue Cave by motorized vessels.

This was announced by the Minister of Maritime Affairs Filip Radulović and the director of the Directorate for Navigation Safety in that ministry, Captain Goran Idrizovic, who point out that the state, even when it is not physically present at sea in front of the Blue Cave in the form of police patrol boats, the Port Authority or the Navigation Safety Inspectorate, has a technical way to record all violators of this ban and sanction them.

The Blue Cave, on the southern coast of the Luštica peninsula, is one of the greatest natural attractions on this part of the Montenegrin coast. It is very popular in the summer with numerous excursion boats and taxi boats that bring tourists to it. Until now, it has been a very common practice for these vessels, without any order or control, to enter the cave through its opening on the southern side, stay in it and sail out through the opening on the eastern side of this sea cave, while at the same time there are a large number of people swimming in the sea in the cave.

Maritime Affairs Minister Filip Radulović said that the introduction of a ban on motorized vessels entering the cave, which came into effect less than a month ago, solves a major problem that has recurred for years during the summer tourist season.

“Entry to the Blue Cave is only possible by non-motorized vessels. In this way, we protect the safety of swimmers and visitors, but also reduce the risk of maritime accidents in an area of ​​increased tourist and navigation intensity,” said Radulović, adding that the decision was made “with the aim of improving safety and sustainable management of maritime traffic in one of the most visited and most sensitive natural sites on the Montenegrin coast.”

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs recalled that in the past, numerous cases of "extremely irresponsible and dangerous management of vessels have been recorded, including the entry of a large number of speedboats into the cave at the same time, approaching swimmers at an unauthorized distance, as well as situations in which skippers introduced vessels into the cave during adverse weather conditions, after which they were unable to safely leave the cave area."

This ban was met with disapproval from some entrepreneurs who provide tourists with excursion tours to the Blue Cave on speedboats, so the NGO Kotor Speedboat Owners Association said that the ban on motorized vessels entering the cave represents a "serious business barrier and threat to the maritime industry in the Bay of Kotor", and that the ban is unjustified because, according to them, "not a single fatality or serious maritime accident has been recorded in the Blue Cave since the restoration of Montenegro's independence".

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs rejects such claims by members of this Association and says that they will persist in implementing the provisions of the new Regulations, which include a ban on motorized vessels entering the Blue Cave.

"We have a general opinion that swimmers and propellers do not go together. I don't think there is anyone among us who would disagree with that. Now, how will access to the cave itself be organized in the future and allow tourists to see this attraction? That is a question for the creativity of the organizers of these excursions themselves, and from the legislator's point of view, we have made it possible for someone with an adequate idea to organize transportation with non-motorized vessels - kayaks and the like - from the access zone to the cave, which we have defined as 20 meters from the entrance to it," said Goran Idrizović, director of the Directorate for Navigation Safety.

He emphasized that regardless of whether there are police, Port Authority or Navigation Safety Inspection vessels present in the waters near the Blue Cave to catch violators of the ban on the spot, the state has the ability to record every unauthorized entry of motor vessels into the Blue Cave through all sensors of the VTMS electronic surveillance system of the Maritime Safety Administration, i.e. AIS transponders that are mandatory for use on vessels registered for the economic activity of passenger transport, as well as because aerial reconnaissance drones will be used to control events at sea.

"It's useless even if they try to turn off the AIS and then sail into the cave because the VTMS electronic tracking of the Maritime Safety Administration records everything and has the ability to go back a year, so it's hard to escape it, and with that, sanctions for rule violators cannot be omitted," said Idrizović.

He emphasized that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and all competent services are ready to meet their obligations at any time and ensure the highest level of safety at sea.

Minister Filiip Radulović pointed out that what has been seen in the Blue Cave for years is unacceptable.

"For a year, we have all seen scenes where people are swimming in the Blue Cave next to boats with their engines running and propellers running. This is a huge risk to the health of those people. We also had footage where some people were breaking a part of the Blue Cave. The question was when something bad would happen and that is why we made the decision to close it to motorized vessels," he stressed, adding that the tourism industry, which includes excursion speedboats and small boats, is important, but human lives are, nevertheless, more important.

"The message is clear - the rules will apply to everyone, and their compliance will be subject to increased supervision throughout the summer season. Our goal is not punishment, but prevention and protection of human lives," Radulović emphasized.

"I know this is not ideal for the maritime industry, but we are leaving room for businessmen to find a solution that will suit them. But we cannot allow this to continue and, God forbid, someone to get hurt or killed," he said, adding that this decision by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs was met with great approval by most of the public.

"That is why this summer we will resolutely apply all available measures to make our sea safer and our stay on it more enjoyable for everyone. A vessel found in the Blue Cave area will be immediately removed from traffic and faces a ban on its activities for endangering human lives at sea," concluded Radulović.