Ferry "Trideseti avgust" had problems in Croatian territorial waters: Lost power in storm

The ferry "Trideseti avgust" of JP Morsko dobro from Budva experienced a maritime accident on its journey from Boka Kotorska to the island of Krk in Croatia, where the ship was heading for a regular annual overhaul at the Punat shipyard there.

Namely, for reasons that are still not officially determined, the "Thirty August" was left without power today, while it was between the islands of Korčula and Hvar in Croatian territorial waters, because all four of its engines failed.

This happened in very unfavorable weather conditions, as there was a strong south wind and large waves of about 5 Beaufort force in that part of the Adriatic, so the ferry was in danger of being thrown onto the coast of Hvar.

Because of this, the ship's crew, consisting of four sailors led by the head of the Maritime and Coastal Transport Sector of the Maritime Administration, Captain Aleksandar Crvenko, was forced to request assistance from the Croatian maritime services at one point today, so the tugboat "Hrabri" of the Split-based company "Brodospas" sailed from the port of Ploče to help the disabled "Thirty-Thirty-Avgust" at around 15 p.m.

The crew of the "Tridesetog avgusta" tonight put all four engines of the ferry into operation, which is now fully operational. The ship has arrived near the port of Stari Grad on Hvar, where an agent has secured a berth for it, but it is currently uncertain whether the Croatian authorities will allow the Montenegrin ferry to dock in that port and take shelter there from the storm in the Adriatic, which is intensifying. The "Brodospas" tugboat "Hrabri" is still near the "Tridesetog avgusta" and is on standby to intervene if necessary.

After a long period of "persuasion" with Croatian VTS operators who control maritime traffic in that country's territorial waters, the "Thirty August" was granted permission to enter and moor in the port of Stari Grad on Hvar.

The ship will enter the port independently, without the assistance of a tugboat, because all four engines on the "Thirty-Thirty August" are working and the ferry can fully sail and maneuver independently.

Incidentally, the original voyage plan submitted to the Croatian maritime authorities for the "Thirty August" voyage from Boka to Krk, stipulated that the ship would sail into the Old Town on that route for the crew to rest.

According to unofficial information, the reason why all four engines of the "Thirty-Thirty-Avgust" stopped working this afternoon during a storm while the ferry was sailing between Korčula and Hvar is most likely due to the clogging of the seawater intake in the ship's engine room's waste water system due to floating debris that has flooded the southern Adriatic in recent days. This led to the engines overheating and their automatic shutdown in order to prevent a more serious engine failure. In the meantime, the crew of the "Thirty-Thirty-Avgust" managed to clean the clogged seawater intakes for the ship's cooling system and get all the engines running again.

Earlier, the crew of the "Thirty August" managed to restore power to two of the ferry's four engines, restoring the ship's propulsion, which allowed the ferry to move away from the coast of Hvar in time and continue sailing at reduced speed.

Due to bad weather conditions and the fact that its propulsion is not completely reliable, the Montenegrin ferry has requested that the tugboat "Hrabri" remain near the "Trideseti avgusta" and be ready to take it in tow if necessary. The plan of our ferry crew is to reach the northwestern coast of Hvar and shelter there from the south wind, and then, while their ship is at a safe anchorage, definitively eliminate the problem with the ferry's engines. After that, the "Trideseti avgusta" will continue sailing further northwest towards the shipyard on Krk, where, according to the original plans, the Morsko dobro ferry was supposed to sail on Saturday.

About twenty days ago, Morsko dobro signed a contract with the company "Brodoremont Punat" from the town of the same name on the island of Krk for the regular annual overhaul of "Thirty August", worth 260.948 euros excluding VAT.