The crews are being paid late because they have to pay for the repair of the ship

The crews of the ships "Kotor" and "Dvadesetprvi May" of the state maritime company Crnogorska plovidba from Kotor are getting their February salary late because the company had to divert the money to pay the costs of repairing the wreck of the ship "Dvadesetprvi May". That ship was damaged after it was hit by the Bulgarian ferry "Družba" while it was tied up in the Bulgarian port of Burgas on February 15 due to maneuvering.

"Twenty-first May" has been undergoing unplanned repairs at the Hatsan shipyard in Jalova, Turkey, since the beginning of March, where it should be lowered into the sea from the floating dock today, after which this ship should return to the charter of the London company Seapioneer and set sail to load cargo. for the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv.

"The February salaries were paid today, and the reason for the slight delay in their payment was that the company has to keep certain funds in the account, because the shipyard does not allow the ship to sail, unless payment is made based on repairing the damage. After issuing the invoice, the company Crnogorska plovidba must settle, and then the refund is carried out by the insurance company, which is the normal procedure in such cases. There are no problems in the payment of wages, and this is the first time that there has been a short delay, which occurred due to the rehabilitation in question". acting executive director of Crnogorska plovidba Marija Vukmirović told "Vijesta".

However, she could not specify how much it will cost to repair the damage to the "Twenty-first of May" sustained in a collision with a Bulgarian ferry because work on the ship in Turkey is still ongoing.

"At this moment, we cannot give the amount of the accompanying costs. After the invoice is issued by the Turkish shipyard, where the repair of the damage is carried out, the amount of the repair value will be known, after which the insurance company will start charging all the incurred costs", announced Vukmirović.

She also confirmed that the "Twenty-first of May" had another "minor incident during the introduction of the ship by the pilot and tugboat into the shipyard".

"At the same time, the ship did not suffer any additional damage. Minor damage was recorded on the dock in question", claims the director of Crnogorska plovidba.

"News", however, was forwarded a photo from a source in Turkey, which shows that the ship still suffered damage in the form of a small hole in a part of the balustrade (deck railing made of solid sheet steel). According to unofficial reports, that and the damage to the dock where the ship hit because the machine "Twenty-first of May" failed to tie the stern due to a malfunction of the pneumatic valve when it was ordered to do so during the sailing maneuver, was estimated at 90 thousand dollars, which, according to those in the know, is enormous sum, and it is also debatable whether the ship's insurer will cover it.

Crnogorska plovidba, by the way, from regular business does not manage to earn enough money to, in addition to covering its operational costs, pay off the installments of the loan taken from the Chinese Exim Bank for the construction of the ships "Kotor" and "Dvadesetprvi May". Therefore, those installments, which amount to about 5,9 million dollars per year, are paid by the Government from the state budget.