According to the official rules, tour boats are only allowed to display a limited number of lights, explains Frans Heijn of the United Shipping Companies Amsterdam.
“The official rules are that you can only have navigation lights: a red and a green light for port and starboard, and a white light at the front and back, so that you can see where the boats are going,” says Heijn.
Until recently, additional Christmas lighting was always permitted, provided that the navigation lights remained clearly visible, the lights did not flicker and decorated tour boats did not enter the IJ.
Stricter enforcement
But this year the rules appear to be more strictly enforced. According to Heijn, several shipping companies were informed about this by letter shortly in advance.
The news led to strong criticism from CDA councilor Rogier Havelaar in the Amsterdam city council this afternoon. “Fines are now suddenly being handed out without notice, and shipping companies are completely surprised,” said an indignant Havelaar.
According to councilor Melanie van der Horst, the strict control has everything to do with safety on the water. “In some cases, Christmas lights make boat navigation lights difficult to see, or even completely invisible,” she says. “This jeopardizes the handling of shipping traffic. In such cases, the police or enforcement on the water can take action to switch off the lighting.”
‘For safety’s sake you really don’t need to do this’
Heijn does not fully agree with that argument. During the Amsterdam Light Festival, where all boats sail in a fixed route through the canals, some ‘extra cozy lights’ are not necessarily unsafe, according to him.
“With the Light Festival, all boats sail in the same direction, it is one-way traffic. You know exactly where they are going, and they all sail at less than six kilometers per hour. For safety, you do not need to do this [het beperken van kerstverlichting, red.] really not possible,” he concludes.