The rescue team of the former Maritime Safety and Port Management Authority (UPSUL), which has been saving lives at sea for years, needs greater understanding from the state, but also psychological help - because they bring home the pain and sadness of those they were unable to save.
That's what he told "Vijesta". Žarko Lukšić, Assistant Director of the Maritime Safety Administration, on the occasion of the "Blue Wave of Montenegro" award he received from the "Mediterranean Center of Photography" organization, which is traditionally awarded for special feats at sea, draws attention to humanity and works with the aim of affirming maritime affairs.
Several search and rescue operations were memorable, Lukšić said, and created a lasting connection with the families of those lost at sea.
He cites the first operation as being on the Bojana River delta, right on the border with Albania. On that August day, as he recounted, a speedboat with several crew members docked at the very mouth of the river to disembark several people.
However, even though it was calm weather, an "invisible" current in the Bojana River tore the rope from the elderly man's hand, and the speedboat immediately separated from the shore at high speed. The boat captain's fatal mistake was that he swam and, due to the cold water and the very strong current of the river, Lukšić explains, in a few minutes he was about 250 meters from the shore, where he disappeared into the sea.
"The SGP boat from the Bojana River was quickly deployed, but to no avail. That evening, the south wind intensified and it was not possible to search and rescue the elderly Bosnian citizen. After the storm subsided, the first and most challenging thing was dealing with the family who wanted us to find the body," the source said.
They made efforts and searched for seven days without stopping, but this is, unfortunately, the only case in which they did not find the body of a person who drowned.
Lukšić also recalls the search and rescue operation in the case of a boy named Nenad, who was swept away by waves on the Pet Danica Promenade and drowned. The National Search and Rescue Plan at Sea was launched on that occasion, and the search for him lasted a week, until the boy's body was found on the Croatian side of Prevlaka, on the Oštra Point itself.
"The daily operation was carried out with a large number of state vessels, private individuals and helicopters of the Army of Montenegro, and on that occasion the 'Frontex' helicopter located in Bari was also engaged. It was a very complex operation that showed the unity of all participants and the great desire to find the body of the unfortunate boy who was swallowed by the waves in one second," recalled Lukšić.
Even today, that rescue team maintains contact with Nenad's mother, and Lukšić highlighted the gesture of his friends - they remember and in their honor mark his birthday on a memorial plaque that was placed at the scene of the accident.
Witnesses of death and grief
The drowning of a Moldovan citizen in Sutomore left a big mark on all of them, says Lukšić, recounting that on that October day, an uninformed group of three paddleboards set off from Marina Bar to certain death, when a very strong south wind quickly threw them from Cape Ratac to Golo Brdo.
"The Moldovan citizens tried with all their might to reach the Sutomore beach, but that was a mistake, because they could have easily reached the lee of Maljevik Bay and saved themselves. Unfortunately, no one informed us in time, and my arrival home at 15 p.m. and the routine view of the sea was terrifying, because two vultures had somehow reached the beach, but a third could be seen behind the hill," said Lukšić.
The SAR-1 rescue boat immediately set sail from Bar and within a few minutes they were able to rescue two young people who had been thrown into a shallow rocky area by the surging waves, where no one could approach them from the shore due to the huge waves. "A young Moldovan woman drowned before our eyes. Then came the arrival of the family, days of searching, waiting for the chemical processes in the drowned person's body to react, and based on experience, we knew the location where the body would surface, which happened seven days after the drowning, when we found the drowned woman in Štrbina Bay," Lukšić recalled.
With the coordination of all services, the UPSUL SAR (Search and Rescue) team last year, activating the National SAR Plan, carried out a professional rescue operation of Ivica Kostelić and a French citizen, who capsized in the exact same place where they lost a Bosnian citizen a few years ago. It was immediately clear to them, according to Lukšić, that due to the large waves and night conditions, an urgent deployment of a helicopter with a thermal camera was necessary. The rescue boat immediately set sail from the port of Bar in very large waves. They knew that the response time in the famous "golden hour" was of crucial importance.
The boat, with the permission of the Albanian authorities, entered their internal waters and conducted a search. All coordination was carried out through the Maritime Operations Center and with the teamwork of all state bodies, the overturned kayak with Kostelić and the Frenchman was successfully located some 2,5 kilometers from the coast. Then a closer boat of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Montenegro picked them up and transported them to the port of Bar.
Lack of support and rescuers
The UPSUL SAR team is young, full of enthusiasm for the job, said Lukšić, and emphasized that they achieve results as a team "because that's the only way this service can function."
Unfortunately, he assessed, the state is not listening and sea rescuers need very important psychosocial support due to stressful situations and exposure to risk when performing complex operations.
The small SAR team has gone through various emotional situations - from the "comic" ones to searching for missing persons while families wait for them to be found.
"There were situations when we searched together for about ten days and found drowned people, missing people who had been floating for several months to our shores. All of this certainly leaves psychosocial consequences for all of us, because this job cannot be conducted only as a 'work obligation', but primarily to love and be by the sea all the time. Our shared vast experience, which was gained through countless sailings, searching for and rescuing people, providing medical assistance, participating in humanitarian actions, and providing assistance to all state bodies responsible for the sea and ecology, has led us to a highly professional SAR team," said Lukšić.
They have modern special equipment, he added, and their vessels, from the call for help via the Maritime Operations Center to the initiation of internal procedures, set sail in ten minutes. The job of a sea rescuer is very demanding, so Lukšić says that they are partly "volunteering" with their dedication, because even when they are not on duty, they come to lend a helping hand to their colleagues.
"Therefore, it is necessary to more strongly support and provide a sufficient number of rescuers and operators in the Maritime Operations Center, because an inevitable generational change is coming," said Lukšić.
Over 400 people saved in five years
Data from the former UPSUL shows that the service rescued 424 people and 90 vessels from 2020 to the end of 2025. They broke their "personal record" in 2023 when they rescued as many as 87 people, and last year they rescued 71 people.
There were significantly fewer deaths from drowning - 24 over a five-year period. In 2020, two people lost their lives in this way, the year after that, five, in 2022, one person died at sea, in 2023, seven, the year after that, six, and five lives were lost in 2025.
Medical assistance at sea was requested 31 times during that period, and there were 174 "distress calls" and participation in search and rescue in the area of responsibility.
Bonus video:
