The municipality of Harlingen, together with the municipality of Enkhuizen, will investigate whether historic sailing ships without valid papers can be refused from their ports. With this, mayor of Harlingen Ina Sjerps is responding to the investigation by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) into historic sailing ships. This was instituted after a fatal accident in the Wadden Sea at the end of August.
In that accident on a sailing ship, a 12-year-old girl from The Hague died during a school trip after breaking off a boom. The Dutch Safety Board (OVV) concluded last week that wood rot had affected the boom. The ILT decided to check 250 historic ships, also known as the brown fleet. During that check, 39 sailing boats were found not to have valid papers. These ships are no longer allowed to sail as a result of the inspection.
The largest part of the brown fleet is located in Harlingen and Enkhuizen. Mayor Sjerps wants to make the fleet “future-proof” by banning ships without valid papers. “We think it’s a wonderful sector, but it must be safe. Apparently that is not enough at the moment because not every ship has a certificate. That is why we as a municipality want to see whether we can link having a certificate to the berth.”
sailing ban
According to Sjerps, a number of the ships that are not allowed to sail are in the port of Harlingen, according to Sjerps. She cannot say exactly how many there are.
Ships of the brown fleet receive various certificates, which are valid for a certain period of time. The certificate for the rigging, which includes the mast, boom and ropes, is valid for 2.5 years. The master certificate is valid for five years.