Am posting this message for those of you who have enjoyed our lovely town of Dubrovnik. Especially those who had the wonderful experience of swimming from the island of Lokrum and the small beach at Sveti Jakov. This article shows the disrespect that Crystal Cruise line has for our small country and the Adriatic. Crystal is not the only ship to discharge in our small port. They're the only one who has been fined, the small sum of $12,000 for polluting the sea.
There were several families who watched this happen from their front yards, less than 100 meters from their home. This is total disrespect for our sea, our country and the small town of Dubrovnik has many in tears.
Dubrovnik does not have the facilities to clean this garbage off our beach and we can only hope for the strong winds to blow it out to sea.
Thank you for allowing me to vent, it does help somewhat.

http://www.croatiantimes.com/index.php?id=4427

They dumped "ashes"? I'm trying to think of why a cruise ship would be producing ash. (Surely it's not coal-fired.) When I read your post, I thought at first the ship had discharged raw sewage, which would have been awful and worthy of a FAR greater fine.

If you object to the small fine you should take it up with the Croatian government and request larger fines or ask the government to ban cruise ships (and the ensuing tourism) from Dubrovnik. Feel free to vent but I'm not sure what good it will do here as most people here do not take cruises. After reading the article I do not believe that Crystal Cruises singled out Croatia for disrespect. They happened to be in Croatian waters when they had a problem.

Another thought is to rally some volunteers to help clean the beach if the government does not have the funds to do that.

I also don't understand where the ashes came from; the article did not explain that.

Having just returned from Croatia and spending 4 days in your beautiful city, I can sympathize with you completely. In fact I would say that the cruise ship industry does very little to help the economy or the enviroment in the area. They unload thousands who descend on the town providing little if any restitution. I hope the people of Dubrovnik will find a way to severely limit such operations and seek proper compensation for any damages done.

Thank you history traveler. I posted this article here so that those who have visited Dubrovnik and had the opportunity to enjoy it's beauty would know of our recent event.
How the ship produced ash is very interesting. According to my husband, who retired from sea after 30 years as a chief engineer, they forced air into their exhaust system. This opened the line and all the debris was forced out, into our Adriatic. This debris was from diesel fuel and was probably also a cancerous.
There is no possible way to rally volunteers to clean the beach, everyone here was terrified of what was in the debris. Croatia is a small country, Dubrovnik has very little funds for this type of situation. And the fine, of course, went directly to Zagreb as does most of our income from the entire Dalmatian coast.
Just wanted to share some interesting news from Dubrovnik. Hvala

Dubrovniktravelady,

How are you enjoying your home? We are still looking forward to a visit next Sept 2010. We are thinking about flying into Rome and making our way to Munich via Croatia and Venice. We have 7 days to get there.

Ken Norris

Since you live in Dubrovnik, could you answer a couple of questions for me? 1) What is the best way to get from Dubrovnik to Trieste or Venice? I have read the ferry from Dubrovnik to Split takes about 9 hours but is really worth the trip. Could you tell me if this is true. Also how would I get from Split to Trieste or Venice? I would like to make it there in under 24 hours. My email is [email protected] if you would want to email me. Thanks Pat

Dubrovniktravelady,

I reread my post and it sounded a bit odd. I hope you understood I meant a visit to Dubrovnik, not to your house!

Ken Norris