The Maritime Operations Center of the Maritime Safety and Port Management Administration of Montenegro (UPSUL) in Bar received today at 16.20:1 p.m. information from the Port Authority of Bar, that the sailboat "Mahne XNUMX" with three crew members (two Austrian and one Swiss citizen), assistance required at sea.
Rival 38 type sailboat 12 meters long, flying the flag of Austria, called for help stating that she needed towing assistance, due to engine failure and very bad weather conditions at sea.
POC operators Toni Tomašević and Petar Marastanović detected the sailboat using the VTMIS radar system, whose position at that moment was five nautical miles south of Cape Oštra at the entrance to Boka, and two and a half miles in Croatian territorial waters.
"Given that the destination of the sailboat was Cavtat, Dubrovnik radio was contacted, which, in coordination with the operators at the POC Bar, monitored the situation. Due to the impossibility of reaching the port of Cavtat, the sailboat was directed to Zelenica as a so-called shelter port. Towing assistance was taken over by the company Marina Zelenika, whose fast vessel immediately went out to sea and in half an hour reached the sailboat in danger and towed it to the Zelenika border crossing, where members of the Border Police Sector of the MUP of Montenegro carried out control of the Austrian sailboat and on it of persons on board," said Žarko Lukšić, head of the Search and Rescue Service at Sea (SAR) in the Montenegrin UPSUL, told "Vijesta".
At the same time, POC Bar informed the Navy of the Army of Montenegro and Operational Communication Center 112 about the current situation regarding the activity of rescuing a sailboat that took shelter in Zelenik due to a strong storm whose gusts reached speeds of up to 35 knots.
Lukšić said that this action "showed the readiness of the maritime services of Montenegro to routinely resolve all situations that may occur at sea in any weather conditions".
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