The storm that has been blowing in Boka for two days, this morning caused new great damage to the Navy of the Army of Montenegro. Namely, the decommissioned minelaying amphibious ship DBM-241 "Krk" overturned around 10 o'clock this morning on its side and sank on the mooring at the location between the military facility Pristan and Rakita, on the northwestern coast of the Luštica peninsula in Boka Kotorska.
On that occasion, the military water tanker PV-17 "Alga" was heavily damaged and scrapped, the hull of which was also flooded, so this ship also came to rest on the seabed in the shallows where it was moored.
DBM-241 has been out of operational use in the Croatian Navy for about fifteen years, and was one of its youngest vessels because it was built in 1988 in Split.
It is assumed that strong waves and a storm during the night "beat" the ship, which in the process hit an old PV-17 military water tanker that was tied between the DBM and the shore. Worn out and corroded sheets on the ship's plating most likely gave way under the blows, so the DBM took on water, capsized and sank along the shore.
PV-17 was also damaged and its bow part also rested on the seabed. The crews of the Croatian Navy, the Administration of Maritime Safety and Port Management, as well as the Inspection of Navigation Safety from Kotor are on site and are trying to pump the sea out of the hull of the PV-17 with strong pumps and at least restore partial navigability to the ship in order to remove it from that location.
As we unofficially learn, the acting commander of the Croatian Navy, frigate captain Milan Jevtović, as well as the leaders of the Ministry of Defense, went to the scene of the accident. According to the claims of a "Vijesti" source well versed in the extraordinary event at Rakita, a certain amount of oil from the engine room spilled from the sunken ship into the sea, but not oil from the fuel tanks.
Due to the strong storm and waves, a floating dam cannot be placed around the sunken ship for the time being, in order to prevent the further spread of pollution to the surrounding water area. For now, it is not even known if and how the wreckage of DBM-241 will be raised from the sea at the place where the ship overturned and sank. Namely, righting and lifting a ship of this size greatly exceeds the technical and personnel capabilities of the Croatian Navy and its floating crane LDI-18.
For years, the Navy has not even had special caissons - cylinders that were once used in the JRM for operations to retrieve sunken ships, because that equipment was sold a long time ago. Therefore, it is most likely that DBM-241 will have to be cut underwater on the face of the wreck and gradually removed in pieces, which is a complicated and expensive operation that will cost far more than the value of that ship as scrap metal.
Landing ship-minelayer DBM-241 intended for the landing of naval infantry, tanks and weapons on an unsettled coast, and was withdrawn from operational use in the Croatian Navy ten years ago. Since 2007, the ship is located on the so-called dead link on Luštica. This warship is 49,7 meters long, 10 meters wide, and its full displacement is 2 tons.
It is armed with two twin-barreled AK-230 cannons of 30 mm caliber, one four-barreled M-75 cannon of 20 mm caliber and a four-barreled MTU-4 launcher for short-range "Strela-2M" air defense missiles. At a speed of 12,5 knots, it was powered by two diesel engines with a total power of 3.100 horses, and the ship could carry six tanks or six heavy guns with towed vehicles and up to 170 anti-ship ship mines.
The old water carrier PV-17 "Alga" was built back in 1952 in Rijeka. This ship of 725 tons of full displacement was 44 meters long and 8,35 meters wide, and at a speed of 9,5 knots it was driven by a diesel engine with a power of 930 horses. Since the restoration of state independence in 2006, the Ministry of Defense of Montenegro has tried unsuccessfully on several occasions to sell the PV-17 and DBM-241.
The latter was offered to the market as a still usable warship because in 214, DBM-2007 sailed from the Tivat Arsenal, when the military shipyard was handed over to the new owner - Canadian tycoon Peter Munk, to what turned out to be the last mooring at Rakit. In 241, DBM-2010 was almost sold to Egypt through the Belgrade company "Cofis", which offered 600.000 dollars to the MoD for it, but did not pay that money, so this transaction failed.
In November 2021, the Government of Montenegro considered the Information on the sale of redundant vessels: auxiliary oil carrier PN-27, auxiliary water carrier PV-17, amphibious minelaying ship DBM-241 and motor diving boat BRM-22, and in that document it was clearly stated that are PV-17 and DBM-241, which have been at a dead end in Boka Kotorska for years, they are in such bad condition that they are in danger of sinking at any moment and causing numerous environmental and other problems for the country.
"The condition of the underwater part of the vessels PV-17 and DBM-241 is extremely bad because the said ships have not been overhauled for almost 25 years, there was no docking and anti-corrosion protection of the underwater part. There is no galvanic protection on the said ships because the zinc protectors have not been replaced for almost 25 years. years, which led to the rapid deterioration of the underwater plating of the ships. The ships are unmanned and are visited daily" - he wrote in that in Information.
In that document, the Ministry of Defense noted that the divers of the Navy of the Czech Republic have so far on several occasions on the ships PV-17 and DBM-241 carried out "frequent interventions to repair damage to the underwater part of the ships, in order to prevent their sinking".
"Decks and superstructures of ships are damaged due to deep corrosion, water from atmospheric precipitation penetrates into the interior of the ship, and it is necessary to constantly empty the bilge from the interior to prevent it from sinking. This requires the continuous engagement of personnel and equipment from the Navy of Croatia. Formwork and the decks on the ships PN-27 (located in Bar - prim-.aut.), PV-17 and DBM-241 are largely affected by deep corrosion. ships, so frequent intervention of members of the Navy is needed to empty the seawater, in order to maintain their navigability. We note that the possible sinking of the mentioned ships would lead to an environmental accident and pollution of the sea in the waters of the Bay of Kotor and the Port of Bar, bearing in mind the amount of oily water which are inside the ships" - it was written in the document which was dealt with by the Montenegrin Government two and a half years ago, with the note that, since the PV-17 and DBM-241 have been on a dead connection for years, which is located in the area of the Kumbor Strait , with their eventual sinking on the mooring "threatened the development of maritime traffic, caused an environmental accident, and the repair of the resulting damage would require high financial resources".
This is exactly what happened this morning, so now it remains to be seen whether anyone from the Croatian Navy and the Ministry of Defense will be held responsible for this incident and how the sunken ships will be removed from the position where they can now be seen by every tourist on a yacht or cruise ship. evidence to Boke Bay.
A new tragedy on "Jadran"
Last night, a stormy storm caused new major damage to the most valuable ship of the Croatian Navy - the sailing ship "Jadran". The gusts of wind broke the wooden extension of the bow mast, which fortunately did not fall on the ship's deck, but remained hanging, tangled in the ship's rail at a height of almost 30 meters above the deck.
This is already the second time that the wooden parts of the "Jadran" tackle have broken, cracked and fallen, which were installed as completely new parts during the last major overhaul of that ship in Bijela. That overhaul, which cost the Ministry of Defense (MOD) over 1,7 million euros, was carried out during the mandate of Milica Pejanović-Đurišić (DPS) and Predrag Bošković (DPS) at the head of that ministry, and it was rather poor quality.
That is why the Ministry of Defense in 2021, while it was led by former minister Olivera Injac, announced that it will review the work of the members of the Supervisory Board, which was formed to monitor and receive works during the general overhaul of the school ship of the Croatian Navy, the sailing ship "Jadran" in Bijela, which conducted from autumn 2013 to spring 2017.
In May of last year, on "Jadran", which was also tied up in the port of Bar at the time, the first accident of this type occurred when the main (thick) cross on the bow mast of the ship broke. The wooden cross used to crucify the sails, the so-called beehives and fattening houses, it weighs several hundred kilograms and broke due to the poor material it was made of and previous damage recorded on it in the previous period.
Fortunately, during the shooting, the thick cross did not fall on the deck of the ship, but it remained broken and deformed, standing by the front mast, fixed to the so-called with a hat, thus avoiding injuries and possible human casualties among the ship's crew, who then found themselves on the maneuvering deck of the sailboat.
After this accident, MCG removed most of the wooden tackle elements from "Jadran" and engaged the caulk workshop "Bokovac" from Bar to make new such parts. The continuation of the bow mast, however, was not dismantled at the time, but it also gave way last night and broke under the blows of the gale.
"Jadran" commanded by corvette captain Ivan Lakovič has been completely stationary for two years and does not sail from the port of Bar because this extremely valuable ship is in a catastrophically bad condition.
Neither because of this nor the fact that the most representative ship of the Croatian Navy is literally falling apart in front of the public, no one from the Navy or the Ministry of Defense has borne any responsibility so far.
Bonus video:
