Port of Bar selected Kotor-based Briv construction to design and repair part of quay V for 350,900 euros including VAT, according to the port’s tender decision. The work covers berth 54 at the passenger terminal, which serves passenger ships. The selection decision remains open to appeal for six days, so the contract is not yet signed.
Podgorica-based Civil engineer offered 348,480 euros including VAT, less than Briv’s bid, but Briv was selected because it offered a longer warranty for the work. The tender’s estimated value was 363,000 euros including VAT. Briv’s proposed subcontractor is Viamont.
The tender was issued on 25 September, with bids accepted until 12 October. It was the second procurement for the repair. The first, launched in mid-August and concluded later that month, was cancelled after Briv, then the only bidder with an offer of 350,900 euros including VAT, was excluded.
After a contract is signed, Briv would have one month to prepare the design documentation and about four months to carry out the work. The repair concerns a 113-metre berth. Before the main design is prepared, the existing shoreline and land around the collapse site must be surveyed, including underwater and geodetic surveys.
Damage and liability
The damage was discovered in late July last year where the ferry Mia, operated by Italian company Adria Ferries, had been berthed. An expert team engaged by Port of Bar determined that repeated forces from the ship, linked to its mooring method and operating regime alongside the quay, caused the damage.
The team found that strong, changing pressure from the ship’s propeller as it entered, remained at and left the berth dislodged 15 large concrete blocks from the quay wall. The stone fill was damaged, water eroded loose material and part of the asphalt collapsed. The repair work includes removing the 15 fallen blocks.
The passenger terminal’s operational quay was built in the 1950s. After damage in the 1979 earthquake, it was repaired and received a new operating permit in 1983. Although Port of Bar’s technical analysis linked the recent damage to repeated forces from the vessel, legal responsibility has not been finally determined.
In March this year, Port of Bar began evidence-preservation proceedings at the Commercial Court to establish the cause and extent of the damage. The court ordered an assessment by a maritime transport expert, who completed a report and opinion on 26 May. The court said the evidence-preservation procedure does not decide the parties’ rights and obligations; those could be addressed in a separate civil case. Information published in late June said Port of Bar was seeking an amicable solution through talks with partners and insurers.
