Jadrolinija announced that its competent services have analysed a final draft report on the fatal Lastovo ferry accident. They have come to the conclusion that the report is not objective and undermines Croatian shipping companies and the Croatian Register of Shipping.

“Given the concession tenders for shipping services that have been and are being published, the publication of unverified documents can be seen as a serious attempt to destabilise Jadrolinija and favour its competition, as well as to call into question the entire system of supervision in this sector,” the Rijeka-based shipping company said on Friday.

Final draft report written in “a “biased and possibly tendentious” manner

Jadrolinija’s monitoring system works efficiently, as evidenced by the fact that Jadrolinija has so far transported a record-breaking 10 million passengers and three million vehicles in 2024, an increase of 1.5% and 4% respectively compared to the same period in 2023, the company said.

So far in 2024, Jadrolinija has carried out 98% of the planned transportations. Of the 2% of unrealised transports, 0.12% were due to technical defects of the vessels and 1.8% to bad weather conditions, the shipping company said.

The company says that the final draft report that surfaced in the media on Wednesday, which was written by a three-member team from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Transport that conducted an administrative investigation into the Lastovo ferry accident, was compiled in “a “biased and possibly tendentious manner and calls into question the entire certification system of the Croatian Register of Shipping (HRB).”

According to the company, this may have far-reaching consequences for Jadrolinija and other Croatian shipping companies.

All of this may affect the operations of Croatian shipping companies on the international shipping market, it added.

Ministry team conducts administrative investigation into Lastovo ferry accident

In August, the three-member team of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure conducted an administrative investigation and prepared a draft final report on the fatal Lastovo ferry accident that occurred on 11 August.

Three seafarers on the ferry lost their lives that day when the ferry’s ramp ferry crashed into them. Another crew member was seriously injured in the accident, which took place in Mali Lošinj.

The draft investigates possible liability and possible charges against the CEO of Jadrolinija, David Sopta.

The draft report states that it has been established that the CEO of Jadrolinija has not established a safety management system (ISM) as required and bears full responsibility for this system. It is therefore proposed to initiate administrative offence proceedings against him.

The draft emphasises that the responsibility of lower management can only be “partially” taken into account”, while at the same time stressing that “the CEO bears full responsibility for the system and the mistakes of another do not relieve him of this responsibility.”

“Double standards”

The company accused the authors of the draft report on Friday of applying double standards, adding that a number of professionals in the shipping industry are responsible for implementing the safety management system.

It added that all crew members of the Jadrolinija vessels have passed the test “D21-D26 – Safety Measures on a Passenger Ship (STCW V/2)”.

When the draft report was published, the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure only stated that it was conducting an independent investigation into the maritime accident and that the public would be informed of the results as soon as they were finalised.

Jadrolinija said in its statement on Friday that an additional inspection and fact-finding was carried out at the company and the Lastovo ferry in September and that no serious discrepancies were found.

In the meantime, the families of the three Jadrolinija seamen, Marko Topic, Bosko Kostovic and Denis Saric, who died in a ferry accident in Mali Losinj in August, have filed a lawsuit against the Jadrolinija.