Yacht "Ramonda" completely destroyed in fire, environmental incident prevented

The luxury yacht "Ramonda", which caught fire last night for reasons that have not yet been officially determined, while it was moored in the Portonovi marina in Kumbor, has been completely destroyed.

However, to everyone's surprise, the yacht, which was made of fiberglass, did not burn to the waterline and then sink as expected last night after firefighters from the mainland, despite great efforts, failed to contain the fire.

The firefighting vessel "Jovana" from the Porto Montenegro marina and the company "Boka Pilot & Tug Services" from Bijela were the most responsible for preventing the sinking of the "Ramonda" and the possible explosion of the approximately 8.000 liters of fuel in its tanks. The pilot boat of this company managed to tow the burning "Ramonda" out of the Portonovi marina and prevent the fire from spreading to other yachts moored there.

"Jovana" then, using its fire monitors and a large amount of foam, managed, after a long struggle, to extinguish the fire on the luxury 30-meter yacht and prevent the remains of the ship from sinking in the waters off Kumbor, or from the ecological consequences of this incident becoming even more severe.

After the fire was contained, the remains of the "Ramonde" were towed to shore late last night and tied to the outside of the eastern pier of Portonovo, where the remnants of the burning fire are being extinguished by firefighters from the mainland.

The remains of the yacht are surrounded by a floating dam to limit the spread of any oil spills and other harmful substances to the surrounding waters.

The fire was extinguished last night around 23 p.m., and an environmental incident, namely the sinking of the yacht and the spill of oil into the sea, was prevented, the Maritime Safety and Port Management Authority (UPSUL) announced.

"The Maritime Operations Center of the Maritime Safety and Port Management Authority (UPSUL) received a call at 18.25:1 p.m. that the yacht "Ramonda" was on fire in the Portonovi Marina, and the fire was extinguished from land because the yacht was moored in that port. The Porto Novi Protection and Rescue Service, as well as the Herceg Novi Protection and Rescue Service, participated in extinguishing the fire. Also, the EKO1 boat of the Maritime Safety and Port Management Authority was on site, with equipment and means to combat sea pollution, because the yacht contained eight tons of fuel. Immediately after the call, UPSUL sent the SAR XNUMX rescue boat to the marina in order to secure the place where the fire broke out and prevent it from spreading to other ships," UPSUL announced.

It is added that the concessionaire towed the yacht about 150 meters from the shore, and Portonovi Marina was ordered to engage all available resources, including a fireboat to extinguish the fire. In addition to the protection and rescue services, private entities with their own equipment also provided support in extinguishing the fire.

Due to the potential danger of oil spills into the sea, members of the UPSUL were on standby at all times, as were navigation safety inspectors and PSC inspectors. Members of the protection and rescue services were on duty all night in the marina.

"Vijesti" is awaiting answers from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs to questions about who owns the wrecked yacht and whether the state has already contacted the P&I Club, which is the insurer of the ship and which should pay all costs of possible environmental pollution, or the adequate removal and final treatment of the remains of the wrecked yacht.

"Ramonda" was only two years old and its value was unofficially estimated at around 10 million euros.