Source: Slobodna Dalmacija
On the occasion of the sinking of the cruise ship “Pacifik” last weekend in the Krilo port, Arsen Ercegović, the president of the Croatian Association of Private Shipowners, in a short interview for Slobodna Dalmacija, pointed out that such an accident could have happened to anyone and anywhere, and emphasized that the Krilo port being “crowded” has nothing to do with the sinking of the ship.
– If our port was the most spacious, the most modern and the safest in the world, it would not be able to save the ship from sinking – said Ercegović and added that, despite this fact, the Krilo port needs to be urgently upgraded.
– I don’t know where it got stuck. At first they said that they were waiting for the papers and the construction permit, but nothing moved even after we got it a few months ago. A tender for a contractor should have been announced by now, but, as far as I hear, the problem has to do with finances. You should ask the director of the Port Authority about that – said Ercegović.
According to the plans for the upgrade, the Krilo port should receive modern facilities, including infrastructure for cruise ships, a ferry pier, a sports port, a parking lot, catering facilities, shops, playgrounds and promenades. The new project envisions the arrangement of the port that will meet the needs of the local population, shippers and tourists, while the existing improvised infrastructure will be replaced by permanent solutions.
Ercegović points out that the most important thing is that there were no injuries and sea pollution was prevented by installing a dam to prevent the oil from spreading. Retrieving the ship will be an expensive and demanding operation because “Pacifik” is 15 meters deep and partially hidden under other ships, but the owner is doing everything to get the ship to land as soon as possible.
There were, of course, cases of some smaller, worn-out wooden ships sinking, but we have never experienced this kind of sinking here in Krilo – Ercegović concluded.
