A meeting was held at the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure on November, 11th 2016, whereby the most topical issues regarding the activity of marina operators and nautical tourism ports in Croatia were discussed. Dr. Adriana V. Padovan, as the principal investigator, and Dr. Vesna Skorupan Wolff, collaborator on the project DELICROMAR, were kindly hosted by M. Sc. Nina Perko, Head of the Department for the Administration of the Maritime Domain, Port and Concession System, Lukša Čičovački, Head of the Department for the Control and Administration of the Marine Traffic, Search and Rescue and the Protection of Marine Environment and Boško Ercegovac, Head of the Department of Administrative and Technical Affairs of the Maritime Safety Administration. An agreement was reached on further cooperation between the Ministry and the Adriatic Institute within the DELICROMAR research project.
The cooperation will consist of the exchange of information, knowledge and experiences related to the legal aspects of the nautical tourism ports, particularly regarding the following issues:
- marina operators' liability insurance - one of the project goals is to create recommendations and guidelines for the definition of terms, conditions and limits of marina operators' liability insurance, which would then contribute to the improvement of the respective provisions of the concession contracts;
- the legal nature and contents of the contract of berth - one of the project goals is to create a set of recommended models of standard terms of the contract of berth for the Croatian marinas;
- fair competition in the context of marinas (particularly in the light of the current proceedings at the Croatian Competition Agency and the Administrative Court) – what are the repercussions on the definition of prices, standard terms of business, standard insurance terms and conditions?
- the problem of the so called "illegal ports" - is the existing legislation sufficient, what are the problems of its implementation?
- reassessment of the prescribed conditions and criteria for the establishment and concessioning of the nautical tourism ports;
- efficiency and adequacy of the legislation on categorisation of the nautical tourism ports;
- is there a problem of unfair competition regarding the service of providing nautical berths in the seaports open to public transport and how can it be solved?
- the specific problems related to the concessioning of the nautical tourism ports (subconcessions, investments, concession fees, concession renewals);
- maintenance of the port order and safety of navigation in the nautical tourism ports (competencies and standards);
- uniforming the relevant legislative terminology (anchorage, mooring, key, offshore infrastructural objects, etc);
- marine environment protection – waste management, sewage, etc. – assessment of the existing legislation, possibilities of improvements in the legal framework and its implementation.
Cooperation with the Ministry is of a great importance for the development of the project DELICROMAR and successfulness of the planned project activities. We hope that it will be fruitful and that it will substantially contribute to the results and goals of the project.