The marina Porto Montenegro in Tivat, picturesquely located in the Bay of Kotor, advertises in addition to luxury and lifestyle feeling for the “upper ten thousand” also with the possibility of tax-free refueling. This could soon be over, as we were told by a SeaHelp member from Tivat.
“The most welcoming port in the Mediterranean and home port to an elegant and ever-growing fleet, from stately motor yachts to sleek powerboats and sensational superyachts; … the marina was designed by seafarers for seafarers and offers the full range of services and facilities for boats of all sizes, meeting and exceeding all the needs of our guests, skippers and crew,” advertises the Marina Portonegro in Tivat on its homepage.
Among the services that owners of larger yachts and superyachts (i.e. yachts between 80 and 200 feet in length) in particular liked to use in the past was the fact that they could fill up with fuel tax and duty free.
In the marina of the Porto Montenegro you could bunker fuel tax-free until now
An official flyer of the Marina of Porto Monenegro advertises that skippers there can fill up on fuel, for which prices are “45 percent cheaper than retail diesel prices,” this applies equally “to private and commercial vessels,” there are “no minimum limit or registration restrictions,” a “duty-free fuel storage capacity of 800,000 liters,” and most importantly, “no additional fees related to fuel delivery.”
The only requirement for tax-free fuel bunkering in Porto Montenegro used to be a “valid vignette” and a “boat tag,” plus the yacht had to leave Montenegro’s territorial waters after the bunkering was completed, but with an exemption (permission from customs), the yacht in question was allowed to remain in a designated area in the marina for up to 24 hours.
Tax-free bunkering could soon come to an end; currently, however, the price of diesel is still capped
However, tax-free bunkering in the Porto Monenegro marina could soon be coming to an end. As a SeaHelp member recently informed us, “duty-free bunkering” is currently no longer possible. Afterwards there is still a cover of the fuel price to 24 October 2022 on up-to-date 1.56 euro for the liter Diesel, nobody knows however, what happens after this date.
The SeaHelp member further reports from Tivat that “for about ten days” the police come to the customs dock and take photos of the boat and the registration, also the engines with the respective numbers would be photographed. In addition, also all papers, such as passports, boat licenses, boat certificates, insurance documents ect. Would be copied by the officials.
On site, the surprised skippers were told that the reason for the procedure was a “new regulation”
The procedure had the skippers on the spot “very surprised”, and the police have in these actions themselves also “visibly no joy”, accordingly the officials “very unfriendly over”(came). On inquiry, why this is handled now in such a way, our SeaHelp member got only the lapidare answer, it gives a “new regulation”.
The SeaHelp editorial staff has contacted the responsible local authorities and will soon inform here whether there is indeed a new regulation on tax-free bunkering in Montenegro, what it says exactly, and what consequences this has for sports skippers who are in the waters in question.
