The Soviet legacy in the Klaipeda port

Although Lithuania is independent for more than twenty years, Klaipeda port is still full of Soviet legacies.

Regarded as Russians

A few years ago, on one of Klaipeda Port Company’s shop wall was still possible to see the contours of filled Soviet banners. Now, after a few waves of resale, such paintings were completely masked. However, the port itself is still full of Soviet mentality. The problem is that such a mentality has entered the thinking of new Lithuanian state structures.

The President of Lithuanian Shipbrokers and Agents Association Vytautas Sileika showed his 1985 USSR seaman’s passport. It was marked each time a seaman came to port. Although Vytautas Sileika visited other ports of the United States, Canada, Western European countries, such stamping is not needed there. His seaman’s passport is marked only in such ports as Klaipeda, Vyborg, Igarka, Kaliningrad and Odessa. Mr. Sileika also presented the passport of a Russian seaman still in use today. Near such places as Visock, Svetlij or Saint Petersburg, Klaipeda is still present. Over the period of twenty five years nothing has changed. While the Soviet board guards were changed into the Lithuanian ones, such passports are still being in use.

Vytautas Sileika told that: “It is sad that during 25 years, we have not left the Soviet mentality. Coincidentally, a lot of Westerners regard us as Russians because we act the way they are.”

Who is going to pay for permits?

Nowhere else in the world, except in Eastern Europe and Africa, no one behaves so primitively by stamping seamen’s passports.

“Sometimes the situation becomes absurd. I was a witness, when the guards put a stamp on the passport of a ship’s mechanic. This was a single Schengen visa, so he lost his money paid for the visa because it stopped being valid. He lost his chance to go to another country,” told Vytautas Sileika.

Why Lithuania, just as Russia and Belarus, keeps the required registration procedures, which are not needed for Schengen countries. In the civilized countries, it is easy to control the movement of seafarers. Upon the arrival, ship’s captain shows passports of sailors and ship’s role. This guarantees that true seafarers are in the ship. If sailors want to go out on the shore, they are free to do so, but have to carry their passports with them.

However, Lithuania is ignorant of such procedures. The questions arise regarding the sailors and their recognition: “How to recognize a sailor, if there are no signs in his passport?”. It was talked that sailors should have special issued permits in order to go on the shore. However, this was not implemented because of costs of such permits. Therefore, seamen are still required to stamp their passports.

Breached directives

The Minister of Transport Mr. Masiulis believes that the existing procedure creates a poor image of the Klaipeda port. He noticed that there are ungrounded fears in the parliament and the civil service about foreign seafarers. Border guards assure that they comply with the State provided laws for foreigners. There were assurances that the conditions for sailors being in a vessel have been improved. Now, foreign sailors can be on board for three months in any vessel standing in the Klaipeda port. If a vessel is undergoing construction works, it is possible to simply get a visa, lasting up to the period of one year. Mr. Sileika argued that this procedure is also flawed. Who is going to send his vessel to be repaired in the Klaipeda port, knowing that after three months he will need to get either new crew or undergo additional formalities?

“From the old days, sailors stayed in harbor for as long as their ship was standing there,” claimed Vytautas Sileika. The Minister of Internal Affairs Raimondas Palaitis said that now Seimas is presented with new Foreigners Affairs Act version. The adoption of the law is stagnating. Because of such a delay, three directives were already breached. However, the amendments needed for sailors have not been included in the law. Minister Palaitis urged sailors to formulate what is necessary and actively participate in the making of the needed law.

Crew change

Problematic and Soviet mentality is also present in the thinking about ships supply in the port’s external raid. It relates to the crew change, refueling of ships and other types of supply. Denmark, Estonia and other Baltic Sea countries have adopted a long standing conviction that a ship can stop at any outer harbor and get their supplies, without sailing into the port itself because it applies charges.

The head of Limarko Shipping Company and the President of Lithuanian Ship Owners Association Vytautas Lgnugaris noted that supplying of vessels and crew change in outer harbor is in comply with the EU laws. Theoretically, such procedures could be held in the outer port of Klaipeda, but in reality it is not possible. In order to change its crews and supply its ships, while in the Baltic Sea, Limarko Shipping Company uses Estonian ports.

The Minister of Internal Affairs Raimundas Palaitis told that the laws for crew change in the Klaipeda port’s outer raid is on his desk and will be signed. Crew documents will be checked on shore and the sailors will be sailed on boats. Minister Palaitis told that the situation of marine supply and bunker is much more problematic. Here he sees the possible threat of smuggling and even terrorism. Maybe it is possible to supply the ship, without the clients need to leave it?

The President of Lithuanian Shipbrokers and Agents Association Vytautas Sileika was asking what to fear. According to him, in Denmark such system of ship supply goes on for ages. It was done even when the Soviet Union lied behind the Iron Curtain and nothing has happened.