Visit-Montenegro.com: Disobedient speedboats with dinghies in pursuit

(June 29, 2009) Tivat – From the Harbor Master’s Office in Kotor, which is in charge of maritime zone of Boka, it is announced that their inspection service for maritime safety will intensify controls both on land and sea during this summer season. Rigorous controls should prevent violation of regulations from taking place and thus maintain last year’s positive trend when there were no maritime accidents in the Bay of Kotor.

“Even though we have only two inspection officers and one boat to perform inspection services with which we cannot effectively cover whole maritime zone under our authority, we will introduce tighter controls this summer since and we will join our forces with the maritime border police. Particular attention will be paid to adherence to the regulation by which vessels are forbidden to come nearer than 50 meters to the coast which is marked by the buoy lines, or in case of speedboats nearer than 200 meters to the coast when natural and unmarked beaches are concerned. Sailboats or small vessels are forbidden to approach unmarked beaches closer than 150 meters away from the coast. According to newly enforced regulations, swimmers are not allowed to swim further than 100 meters from the coast”, Nikola Drakulovic, Chief of Port authorities in Kotor said.

Drakulovic also added that persons who are recklessly operating sea scooters will be fined with maximum fee defined by the law and in some extreme cases their vessel will be detained.

Still, one of major problems with regard to summer season in the Bay of Kotor remains unsolved. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Transport has not responded to a proposal of the Harbor Master’s Office in Kotor to issue strict ban on boats and yachts which sail through the bay at high speeds as well as to provide inspector officers with necessary technical equipment to deal with speeding offences.

“Unfortunately, apart from stipulations from “Peljari” which define that vessels in the bay are restricted to a maximum speed of12 knots and the speed limit of 8 knots in the straits Verige and Kumbor, we still lack more precise and more “severe” normative instrument which would enable us to deal with skippers of yachts who disregard the set speed limits adequately”, pointed out Drakulovic adding that, notwithstanding, they will put efforts to confront these “racing steersmen” by using other legal means.

By S.L.