Representatives of several professional associations of seafarers, educational institutions and seafarer embarkation agencies sent an open letter to the Prime Minister of Montenegro, Duško Marković, calling on the Prime Minister to react due to the bad situation in our maritime sector and the lack of personnel of the relevant Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs (MSP) to cope with the existing problems, but challenges that are constantly imposed by the dynamic development of the maritime industry in the world.
In their address to the Prime Minister, the signatories indicate that they are aware that the MSP in Montenegro received and took over the responsibilities for monitoring and implementing maritime regulations, which is also the practice in all other maritime countries.
"Starting from the fact that the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs, as in all other maritime countries, is the most responsible entity and the main holder or coordinator of all work related to the system of education, training, certification and employment of seafarers, we are addressing you in order to draw your attention to the alarming situation in these areas. The reason for our address is that all our individual and joint efforts in previous years, towards achieving systemic changes, did not meet with the understanding of the relevant Ministry. Our address is exclusively guided by the profession and our common intention is to change the existing unsustainable situation as soon as possible for the better and for the welfare, first of all, of the seafarers as well as all other subjects and participants in these processes", it is written in the letter to Marković, who were signed by the leaders of the Union of Seafarers of Montenegro, the Association of Sea Captains of Montenegro, the Faculty of Maritime Affairs and the Secondary Maritime School from Kotor, the Seafarer Training Center of the Maritime Faculty in Kotor and the Azalea Maritime Training Center in Bijela, as well as the seafarer boarding agency Azalea from Bijele and Normonte from Kotor.
They presented to the prime minister part of their remarks on the current situation in our maritime industry - the branch of the economy that, after tourism, brings the most fresh money from abroad to Montenegro and in which about 7 thousand people are engaged.
"In short, they relate to: not recognizing the specifics of seafaring; disorganization and insufficient professional capacities of the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs; poor coordination of SMEs as the main bearer of obligations, with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; delay in the adoption and/or partial prescription of legislation related to compliance with minimum international standards in maritime affairs; partial implementation or non-compliance with existing legal regulations related to the process of education, training and employment of seafarers. We believe that it is the last moment to radically and radically initiate measures that would change this, in our opinion, very unfavorable situation, the serious consequences of which are already being felt every day, and we fear that they will finally become irreparable", states the letter of the majority of representatives of the maritime economy and education to the Prime Minister. They request that a round table be organized during September, where, in addition to people from the cabinet of the Prime Minister and representatives of the Ministry of the Economy, representatives of education, training and employment of seafarers, maritime professional organizations and maritime companies would participate, and where "problems would be presented, but also proposed and accepted the best solutions."
They called on the Prime Minister to delegate his representative to the Organizational Committee of the topg meeting as well as appoint "a responsible person from the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs who, during July and August, together with other representatives, would work on the organization of the same."
The maritime profession, by the way, is very disappointed after the recent meeting they had in Kotor with the representatives of the Working Group of SMEs for the drafting of the new Law on the Safety of Maritime Navigation. Representatives of the MSP led by Minister Osman Nurković (Bosniak Party) rejected almost all the remarks and suggestions that seafarers' professional associations and part of the education system sent to the draft law, most of which refer to internationally accepted standards in that area. In addition, the MSP recently adopted a new internal systematization of its organs and services, prepared by the director of the Maritime Directorate, Vladan Radonjić, which completely marginalized and additionally set back the role of the Harbor Master's in the system of control of foreign-flagged ships residing in our waters.
The Ministry headed by Nurković predicted that in the future a person with a degree in social sciences can be appointed as harbor captain, and not exclusively with a professional, technical maritime faculty.
In addition, according to Nurković and Radonjić, for the title of harbor captain in the future it will not be necessary for the candidate for that position to submit his brevet of long-sea captain or engine manager, which was a requirement until now. This will lead to a completely absurd situation that in the future someone who is neither a captain nor a manager, at the head of the examination committee at the Port Authority, examines and evaluates seafarers applying for the brevet of officer, captain or engine manager.
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