The Port State Control Authorities in Kotor, Montenegro issued a fine for the cruise ship MSC Musica and its Captain for ignoring the speed limit in the Bay of Kotor. This is not the first time this vessel has ignored the maximum speed limit say the port authorities. According to them this season the same ship has received five warnings for speeding.
According to Radio Kotor, the cruise ship MSC Musica navigated in the Bay with a speed of 8.1 nautical miles instead with the maximum allowed speed of 6 nautical miles. By ignoring this the vessel violated the Safety of Navigation Act, Article 10, which specifies the allowed speed limit. Therefore MSC Musica will have to pay fine of 1500 Euros, and the captain 200 Euros.The Speeding was registered by the AIS Marine Traffic radar system, after which the Kotor Port Authorities were called to react.
"The penalty is small in this case, but this is a violation, and we hope that the this will contribute to respect the speed limit of the Kumbor and Verige straits because, in terms of large cruisers, the smallest error can be catastrophic." said PSC Kotor spokesperson.
Indeed this is a small fine. If you consider that 7-Nights Mediterranean cruise on MSC Musica with 2550 passengers on board costs on average 1000 Euros per person, the fine is symbolic. It is like policeĀ fine a Bus driver for speeding with 5 Euro ticket.