Inland skippers are calling for the return of the physical bridge keeper on busy shipping routes in Zaanstad. Many bridges in the municipality are now operated remotely. According to the Algemeene Schippers Vereeniging (ASV), the current situation leads to risks of accidents and delays. Last Friday, a Portuguese man was seriously injured after he fell from a great height from the open Beatrix Bridge.
The accident on the Beatrix bridge provoked many reactions among the Zaankanters, also because things went badly wrong in the past on the Den Uyl and Prins Berhard bridges. After the accident, our Facebook page often shouted ‘bring the bridge keeper back!’ past.
It is still a topic of conversation today. Two men in yellow Zaanstad jackets look towards the lock between the two bridges. One points to the accident site. “I still think it’s amazing how you can do something like this,” he says. For the time being, there seem to be few people who can tell exactly what happened.
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Bad luck Friday
There is still little news about the circumstances of last Friday’s accident. There has been a good response to the police’s call for more images of the incident to be sent. A spokesman for the police says that on their side it is becoming increasingly clear, but that it is not yet possible to bring it out. There is good news: the Portuguese victim is now approachable, which also helps the police in the investigation.
Sunniva Fluitsma of the Algemeene Schippers Vereeniging is understandably cautious about statements about last Friday’s incident. “But in general it remains the case that the number of accidents is smaller if there are physical bridge operators. We are not saying that the bridge operator should return everywhere. There are areas where it does work well, such as in North Brabant.”
She continues: “We are against remote control of everything. There are places where only a ship passes by every now and then, you won’t leave a bridge keeper there all day. We understand that too. But now it is becoming everywhere done in North Holland, also on the busy shipping routes.”
Delays
According to Fluitsma, this creates risks of accidents, but certainly also delays. “We often hear: ‘I can’t open the bridge for a while, because I’m working on another screen’. That’s all delay.” According to her, the cameras at the bridges and the lock in Zaandam do not always work properly, which also leads to problems. “We’re not very happy about it.”
A spokesperson for the municipality of Zaanstad said it was not yet able to comment. Tomorrow there will be a letter from alderman Slegers to inform the city council.
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