The MUP claims that it did not chase away the cruiser, but only acted according to the law

The Directorate for Emergency Situations of the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro announced that due to the current legal regulations, they could not meet the request of the owner of the cruise ship "Norwegian Spirit" to allow that ship to take fuel directly from the tankers while it is docked at the operational coast of the Port of Adria, in the water area of ​​Port Bar.

Because of this, this ship of 75.904 gross tons, with over a thousand crew members on board, left Bar on Saturday and sailed for the port of Augusta in Sicily.

The "Norwegian Spirit" arrived in Bar on November 24 last year with the intention of being placed on hold due to the crisis in the global cruise industry caused by the coronavirus pandemic. According to the plan of its owner, the American-Norwegian company "Norwegian Cruise Line" (NCL), the ship was supposed to remain in Montenegro in preparation at least until April, which was an exceptional opportunity to earn not only the state through numerous fees and tax benefits, but also a large number of economic entities, not only in Bar. Estimates are that NCL, paying taxes to the state, services and supplies of its ship from November 24 to January 9 when the "Norwegian Spirit" left Bar, left at least one million euros.

If the ship had stayed until April as originally planned, the revenues that the Montenegrin economy would have generated from it would have been at least between five and six million euros. All that, however, was lost due to the unwillingness of the Directorate to give consent to supply the ship with fuel, in a manner that would be safe for the ship in a maritime sense.

"According to Article 10 of the Law on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods, loading and unloading of dangerous goods at railway stations, ports and piers, as well as at airports, is carried out at special places designated by the state administration body responsible for protection and rescue operations, with the consent of the state body the administration responsible for traffic and maritime affairs and the administrative authority responsible for environmental affairs. In accordance with the above, the Ministry of Interior has designated locations in the Port of Bar for carrying out loading and unloading operations of hazardous materials, which meet technical standards, in accordance with regulations. In this regard, in accordance with the legal procedure, in the Port of Bar it is possible to carry out the mentioned activities only in places that have received approval from the ministry, and in accordance with the technical regulations. Please note that for the location you mentioned (the wharf managed by AD Port of Adria - ed.) there is no approval issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Directorate for Emergency Situations. Also, please note that on January 5 of the current year, the supply of fuel was carried out from the authorized location, with the application of all security measures", the MUP informed "Vijesta" yesterday.

They submitted the answers to the questions that "Vijesti" sent to the Directorate on Monday, only yesterday, after the text was published regarding the enormous financial damage that the state and the economy suffered due to a kind of expulsion of cruise ships from Bar.

Director of the Directorate Mirsad Mulić (DPS) before the text was published, did not respond to the questions sent to him by "Vijesti" and did not say who was specifically responsible for such an action of the Directorate that he leads, and in connection with that, who will bear the consequences for the damage caused by the economy.

The Ministry of Interior noted that on January 5, "the Norwegian Spirit cruise ship was supplied with fuel from the authorized location, with the application of all safety measures", alluding to the fact that on that day, the commander of the large cruise ship, which was already facing an emergency situation due to of a possible lack of fuel because his tanks were almost completely empty, he took his ship to the nearby Jugopetrol station for supplying ships with fuel (bunker) in the Port of Bar and filled up only a small amount there.

Namely, on that day, "Norwegian Spirit" was forced, with maximum efforts, to land on a small pier of about 40 meters in length in front of Jugopetrol's bunker-station on the inside of the main breakwater in Bar, and remained there for several hours in a very dangerous position for a 270-meter-long cruiser. meters and over 23 meters wide, which cannot be safely moored at such a small pier. All that lasted for several hours while the cruiser took only 430 cubic meters of fuel, which was enough to reach the port in Sicily a few days later.

All that time while fuel was coming into the ship's tanks from Jugopetrol's bunker station at a rate of only 700 liters per minute, which is its maximum capacity, it was a very disturbing experience for the commander and crew of the "Norwegian Spirit" because it had to be controlled, in a maritime sense. a precariously moored ship, left to the unplanned influence of the wind in a very exposed position.

Only because of this action of the captain of the American-Norwegian cruise ship, shame and a scandal of international proportions were avoided, in which Montenegro would have found itself if the "Norwegian Spirit" had run out of fuel at the port in the Port of Adria part of the port of Bar, because the Directorate did not allow it to where the ship is safely moored, directly from the Jugopetrol tank truck, supplies fuel. In that case, the cruiser would be left without power and without electricity because its diesel units would not be able to work, which would then be disastrous for the living conditions of over a thousand crew members. Then Montenegro would literally be thrown onto the international pillar of shame and exposed to the diplomatic reaction of several dozen countries whose citizens are among the crew members of the cruise ship that the Montenegrin authorities put in danger in the Montenegrin port.

When asked whether they are aware of the damage that the Directorate has caused to the state and the economy, and who will bear the responsibility for it, the Ministry of Internal Affairs only repeated that on January 5, "the requested quantity of fuel was supplied from the permitted location, i.e. the place designated for loading , which meets all the necessary technical requirements, in a safe manner".

"We note that there was no problem with the further supply of fuel," the Ministry of Interior announced.

They found an opportunity for MCG, NATO and the ships of the rich

Until now, the Directorate has not caused such problems in several similar situations when various ships on the piers in the Port of Bar took fuel directly from tankers, as was the case with the ships of the Croatian Navy, or foreign warships of NATO countries that came to visit Montenegro. , i.e. foreign superyachts that refueled from tankers at Porto Montenegro jetties in Tivat. The Ministry of Interior now claims that these cases cannot be compared to that of "Norwegian Spirit".

"There were no similar circumstances in the earlier period for which the Directorate gave approval. Also, the Directorate did not give approval for fueling the NATO ship, as well as any other vessels. The consents you mentioned in the question could have been given on the basis of other regulations (which do not define only the place of loading/unloading) in which their issuance is recognized".

This would mean that earlier for MCG, NATO and wealthy clients of Porto Montenegro, a legal possibility could be found to meet their needs, but for unknown reasons, such a thing could not be done for "Norwegian Spirit".