New ferry lines on hold due to an appeal

The Coastal Shipping Agency has announced that it is continuing with tenders for the selection of a shipping company that will provide public service of public coastal liner shipping on state tract lines 338 Lopar – Valbiska and vice versa, 532 Šibenik – (Zlarin – Obonjan – Kaprije) – Žirje and vice versa and 831 Suđurađ – (Lopud) – Dubrovnik and vice versa.

At the same time, the Government of the Republic of Croatia passed a decision introducing a new line number 9808 on the route Lastovo – Korčula – Dubrovnik and vice versa, which should connect Lastovo with the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva County throughout the year, at the initiative of Dubrovnik-Neretva County.

However, although the first catamaran on the new permanent high-speed line Ubli (Lastovo) -Korčula-Dubrovnik was supposed to set sail on January 2, 2021, this did not happen. Unfortunately, the residents of Lastovo, as well as others interested, were not informed about the cancellation of the new line. There is no news about the cancellation on the website of the Coastal Shipping Agency.

For the maintenance of the line 9808 Lastovo – Korčula – Dubrovnik and vice versa, the offer of the shipowner Kapetan Luka – Krilo, owned by Ivan Tomić, was selected.

The line will not start sailing because the contract with the Coastal Liner Agency has not been signed yet. After making a decision on the selection of the most favourable bidder, the Agency received an appeal from one of the bidders and the procedure cannot be continued until the appeal is resolved. Only the Agency can provide you with information on the appeal and the course of the appeal procedure. We hope for a quick resolution and the start of the sailing.

Ivan Tomić, owner of the company Kapetan Luka-Krilo

Regarding the other three lines 338 Lopar – Valbiska and vice versa, 532 Šibenik – (Zlarin – Obonjan – Kaprije) – Žirje and vice versa and 831 Suđurađ – (Lopud) – Dubrovnik and vice versa, tenders were stopped after an appeal was lodged with the State Commission for the Control of Public Procurement Procedures in each of the procurement documentation procedures.

The new deadline for submission of bids is January 13, 2021, at the local time specified in each Notice of Amendments or Additional Information. 

Source: Dubrovnik.net, Morski.hr