Speedboaters will block the Kotor traffic route, demanding that measures to curb rampage at sea be abandoned

The non-governmental organization "Boka Navigator" from Kotor, which brings together some of the owners and operators of fast excursion speedboats operating in Boka, has reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP), namely the Kotor Security Department, a protest rally that its members will hold on Wednesday, June 11, starting at XNUMX:XNUMX on the Adriatic Highway in front of the Port of Kotor building in Kotor.

In a letter they sent to the Kotor police yesterday, which Vijesti had access to, the speedboaters announced that they decided to hold a public protest "in order to draw the attention of the public and institutions to the seriousness of the situation" they found themselves in due to the intention of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs to increase the level of navigation safety in the Boka Bay with the new Law on Navigation Safety, which is currently being adopted, and with increased surveillance measures at sea.

According to earlier claims by the taxi boat operators themselves, there are around 300 of these small and fast vessels operating here, which are registered for the commercial activity of transporting passengers and which constantly "sprint" through the bay at high speeds on the route from Kotor, via Perast, the Perast islands, through Verige and the Kumbor Strait to Arza, the Blue Cave, Mamula and back.

According to the assessments of the authorities in the state, unscrupulous owners and skippers of fast excursion speedboats who do not comply with the speed limits in the bay, namely the Kumbor and Verige Straits, as well as numerous other rules of navigation and safety, pose the greatest risk to the safety of maritime navigation in Boka Bay.

In the past few years, these vessels have been the most frequent perpetrators of incidents at sea with minor and serious consequences for human lives.

"The reason for the protest is the decision of the competent institutions of the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs and the Kotor Port Authority to introduce, without public debate and consultation with the small business sector, the obligation to install AIS devices on all vessels longer than five meters. In addition to this new obligation, existing regulations are still in force that further limit our business: mandatory additional crew member (sailor) on speedboats; speedboat speed limit to 10 nautical miles per hour plus four tolerances. Collectively, these measures represent a great burden for small operators, especially because in real conditions they are not justified either technically or in terms of safety, and at the same time they lead to a loss of competitiveness and existential insecurity for many who make a living from this activity," said the representative of the NGO "Boka Navigator" Marko Jovanović in a letter sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Kotor police, noting that so far "no attempt to communicate with the authorities has resulted in an agreement or a concrete step towards compromise."

Therefore, the speedboat drivers decided to organize a half-hour traffic blockade tomorrow on the Kotor waterfront on the only street in Kotor, which is already catastrophically congested and which, even under the most normal circumstances, is threatened with collapse during the tourist season.

In the letter, they stated that their protest would be "peaceful, organized and directed towards expressing the following goals: abolish the obligation to install AIS devices on vessels up to seven meters long, abolish the obligation to have an additional sailor on smaller speedboats, and adapt and liberalize the speed limit for speedboats to real needs and safety conditions."

All of these demands were repeatedly raised by speedboat operators during the public debate on the Draft of the new Law on Navigation Safety, which was conducted by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs from February 17 to March 16.

They requested, among other things, that the mandatory introduction of AIS be abandoned on all vessels registered for the economic activity of fishing and passenger transport, which includes their speedboats, as well as that taxi boat speedboats be allowed to sail at speeds ranging from 18 to 22 knots as a special exemption, pointing out that their vessels were designed to function optimally in that speed range.

However, in the responses it gave during the public hearing, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs flatly rejected all the objections and requests of the speedboat operators, explaining its position by stating that "the frequency of maritime traffic in the Bay of Kotor is constantly increasing, and with it the risk of maritime accidents."

"Therefore, the Ministry considers it essential to comply with measures aimed at increasing navigation safety, protecting human lives and protecting the sea from pollution from vessels. The Ministry has taken a clear position on the issue of speeds in the Bay of Kotor until the final preparation of a safety study and risk assessment of navigation in the bay, which will have concrete conclusions aimed at reducing risks and improving navigation safety. In accordance with the results of the study, the plan is to introduce a waterway, a separate navigation scheme, and the installation of maritime signaling. The waterway will solve numerous problems in the Bay of Kotor, especially the navigation regime in the narrow Kumbor and Verige channels. By analyzing operations and assessing the risk of identified hazards on boats for commercial activities from the aspect of navigation safety, it was concluded that one crew member is insufficient for cases of emergency and extraordinary events, e.g. incapacitation of the only crew member," the Ministry of Maritime Affairs stated, maintaining the position that all vessels registered for commercial activities, including speedboats for transporting passengers, must be equipped with AIS transponders that constantly emit data on course, destination and navigation speed, which will make it much easier for UPSUL, the Navigation Safety Inspection and other state authorities to monitor the situation in the waters of Boka Bay and to sanction violators more easily.