In the Register of Yachts of the Maritime Safety Administration of Montenegro, 93 ships are registered, which by their characteristics belong to the category of yachts.
According to Montenegrin laws, yachts are considered "boats intended for leisure, sports and recreation, longer than seven meters, which are not engaged in international trade and which carry up to 12 passengers".
Although the Register of Yachts was introduced a few years ago with the aim of creating an "encouraging environment for the development of yachting and elite nautical tourism", and in connection with this, a special Law on Yachts was passed, which gives the owners of these facilities a number of benefits, the Montenegrin flag is not yet flying in any of those vessels whose dimensions would fall into the category of mega-yachts.
Mega-yachts are vessels for sports, leisure and recreation, longer than 80 feet - 24,38 meters.
The 23,34-meter-long yacht "Itaca", registered in the name of Montenegrin citizen Marin Čonča, came closest in the Montenegrin registry to that "magical border" that separates real luxury and opulence at sea from "ordinary" yachts.
In addition to Montenegrin citizens - natural persons and companies registered in Montenegro, there are many vessels in the Montenegrin yacht registry that are owned by foreigners and foreign companies.
Thus, 19 yachts flying the flag of Montenegro are owned by citizens of Russia, and one ship is owned by citizens of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Among the owners of ships registered in the Register of Yachts of Montenegro are also persons and companies from the Republic of South Africa, Belize, Panama, Italy, Great Britain, Albania, Cyprus, Kazakhstan and Switzerland.
The most numerous foreigners who register yachts under the Montenegrin flag are citizens and legal entities from Serbia
The most numerous foreigners who register yachts under the Montenegrin flag are citizens and legal entities from Serbia who are the owners of a total of 23 ships registered in the Montenegrin registry.
Among them is the yacht "Nautilus I", 8,25 meters long, owned by Miroslav Mišković.
Some Montenegrin catering and agricultural companies also own yachts, according to the records of the Maritime Safety Administration. Thus, HTP "Vile Oliva" from Petrovac is the owner of the nine-meter boat "Vile Oliva", the joint-stock company "UTIP Crna Gora" from Podgorica is the owner of the 15-meter long yacht "Baki", while the company "13. July - Plantaže" registered as the owner of the 8,23 meter long yacht "Jezero".
Mank did not want to pay symbolic fees
The only mega-yacht registered so far under the Montenegrin flag was the 38-meter-long "Golden Eagle" of the Canadian billionaire and owner of Porto Montenegro, Peter Munk.
However, after just over half a year spent under the Montenegrin flag, he deregistered his ship from Montenegrin and registered it in the Yacht Register of the British island state of the Isle of Man. As it was once explained by the Maritime Safety Administration of Montenegro, the reason for the departure of Manko's yacht from the Montenegrin registry was the limitation of the number of passengers to 12, above which, according to domestic law, vessels begin to be considered passenger ships, and are therefore subject to much stricter technical regulations and examinations.
In translation, the Canadian billionaire did not want the country in which he is developing a business selling apartments in Porto Montenegro to pay 1.200 euros in registration fees for the "Golden Eagle" every year, as well as other symbolic fees for the technical inspection of the ship.
Fees up to 1.200 euros
According to the Law on Yachts, for the registration of a yacht in the Montenegrin register and renewal of papers, which is done every third year for yachts that carry up to 12 passengers, i.e. once a year for ships with a larger passenger capacity, 350 euros is paid for a ship with a length of seven to 12 meters. , which is less than the annual registration cost of the average family car.
This fee for yachts from 12 to 17 meters in length is 500 euros, for boats from 17 to 24 meters the price is 800 euros, while for all yachts over 24 meters in length the fee is 1.200 euros. Those prices were adopted back in 2007, when the Law on Yachts was adopted, and they have not been changed to this day.
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