The Croatian government, through the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure (Ministarstvo Mora, Prometa i Infrastrukture; MMPI), has recommended the dismissal of the board of directors of local ferry operating company Jadrolinija in connection with a maritime incident that left three people dead last year.
An investigation by the ministry showed that the bow ramp of the Jadrolinija Ro-Pax ferry Lastovo suddenly and unexpectedly fell while it was berthed at the ferry terminal in Mali Lošinj on August 11, 2024.
The ramp fell onto and trapped four crewmembers. Two were killed instantly, one later succumbed to injuries sustained, and the fourth suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
The investigation into the mishap revealed that the operating company's safety management system was not fully implemented, thus violating EU regulations.
The board of Jadrolinija has challenged the dismissal, claiming that no official documents have indicated the failure of Lastovo's bow ramp system as the cause of the mishap.
The board also said that a technical inspection of the bow ramp was conducted in the days following the incident, and that representatives of the MMPI and the Croatian Register of Shipping (Hrvatski Registar Brodova; HRB) who were present during the inspection found no faults in the system.
"If two authorised and mutually independent institutions [HRB and MMPI] determine before and after the accident that there are no serious deficiencies in the safety management system of the vessel and the company, then it is truly surprising that one of them subsequently determines that such deficiencies do exist," the Jadrolinija board said in a statement.