September 6 (SeeNews) - Oil price in Bosnia and Herzegovina has spiked since a tanker carrying 27,000 cubic metres of oil rammed the dock at Croatia's port of Ploce a month ago, putting it off limits, the prime minister of Bosnia's Federation entity, Fadil Novalic, said.
Novalic visited the the oil terminal in Ploce on Wednesday to assess the situation, the Federation government said in a press release.
NTF, a company owned by Bosnia's Federation, operates the port of Ploce's liquid cargo terminal along with Croatia's Luka Ploce Trgovina d.o.o.
The dock at the terminal, which was rammed on August 5, is still out of use due to issues with the mooring system, the entity government said. It added that NTF is hoping to enable the mooring of smaller ships, of up to 100 m in length, in some 40 days.
"The shipping company that caused the damage will pay for the repairs but that doesn't help us if we have to wait a year," Novalic said.
He added that the government of the Federation will explore options for restoring operations at the terminal as soon as possible.
On August 5, an STI Poplar chemicals/oil tanker, sailing under the Marshall Islands flag, smashed into the dock at Ploce causing a portion of it to break off into the sea, including oil and gas unloading equipment.
Ploce is the second-largest cargo seaport in Croatia and serves both Croatia and Bosnia. It comprises several terminals, one of which is the liquid cargo terminal handling fuel and other liquid cargo.
The Federation is one of two entities that make up Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other is the Serb Republic.