Local Communities Protest Abandoned Livestock Carrier in Croatia
A livestock carrier that wrecked on the coast of Croatia last year is still aground 10 months later, and local communities are concerned about the lack of movement on a salvage operation.
On April 16, 2024, the 1976-built livestock carrier Deala drifted in strong winds and grounded on a rocky shore at the entrance to Raska Bay, Croatia. Her 15 crewmembers managed to escaped without injury, but the ship suffered hull damage and the engine room flooded. Croatia's maritime affairs ministry expected that a refloat operation would remove the ship within a month of the grounding, but the owner walked away and the vessel remains on the rocks today, protected only by a pollution control boom.
The bay is an environmentally-protected area and a tourist attraction, and local politicians are concerned about long-term ecological and economic damage from pollution from the ship.
"We are fighting for this ship to finally be removed and for our sea, our environment and our tourism to be preserved," the mayors of the towns of Marcana and Barban told Kleine Zeitung in a statement.
Neven Ivesa, a professor at a nearby university, told local media that the best option would be to cut up the ship in place and remove it in sections to avoid potential harm from a refloat attempt. This would be costlier than a tow-away: the cost of a standard typical refloat operation for the small ship has been estimated at about $3 million.
"Given months of inactivity, this issue is no longer just a local problem, but a threat that requires a national response. Residents and business entities in the areas of the municipalities of Marcana, Barbana and Rasa must not become victims of neglect of environmental and safety standards," said Marcana mayor Predrag Plisko in a statement.