Rijeka: Round Table on Liner Shipping Carriage Act and Seasonal Coastal Trade Act

Most discussion participants who met in Rijeka in order to talk about the final proposal of the Liner Shipping Carriage Act and Seasonal Coastal Trade Act, stated that ‘Jadrolinija’ and other shipping companies currently maintaining maritime state lines should be given priority for keeping/re-gaining those concessions within the next ten years.

Mario Babić, the Assistant Minister for Maritime Traffic, Maritime Domain and Ports, on the other hand, explained that it was the Ministry"s goal to protect the current state of Jadrolinija and that tenders for particular lines would be organized only in accordance with that ship carrier. He also concluded that there would be no new tenders within this year.

Babić pointed out that the new Act had been introduced due to advice coming from consultants participating in the EU screening process. They had suggested that was important to create more transparency in the process of granting concessions and to prepare Croatian shipping companies for future competition.

Criticism stated by Pavao Komadina, Dean of the Faculty of Maritime Studies in Rijeka included assumptions that this process might ruin the currently precise transport of people living on islands, create problems during the tourist season, endanger the safety of navigation and other.
The SDP Member of Parliament, Mato Arlović demanded the drafting of a completely new Act proposal, mentioning the past bad example of the Rijeka shipping company ‘Croatia Line’.

According to the Mayor of Rijeka Vojko Obersnel, the whole problem had been reduced to a conflict between the cities of Rijeka and Split.
 

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