A group of Dutch skippers collecting Ukrainian grain has been stuck on the Danube near Moldova for days. The country does not yet allow them. This means it is not possible to change staff and they cannot go shopping either. “We’re running out of supplies.”
Rinus Oome from Geertruidenberg is one of the skippers who feels like a prisoner on his own ship. Ten days ago he left a port in Romania where he had unloaded a cargo and wanted to enter Moldova, but according to him they have had room there for days to receive his ship and those of his colleagues. “It is unclear to us why. We hear that a fraud investigation is underway, but in the meantime we are trapped here on our own ship,” says Oome, who is tied to two more Dutch and two Belgians.
According to the skipper, he cannot return to Romania because he has already cleared port there. The procedure to re-enter that country takes a long time and costs a lot of money. Moreover, he will then suffer significant damage, because his claims on the demurrage that he has accrued so far will lapse. A cost that runs into tens of thousands of euros, says the skipper.
Oome has now asked the embassy for help. The basic necessities of life are quickly running out. Going ashore just to get a message is illegal. “I still have a few kilos of potatoes. They will be gone in two to three days. We need basic necessities, but we are not allowed anything. Just waiting on board.”
Crazy
Falco Schoenmaker of the Algemeene Schippers Vereeniging (ASV) calls it crazy that Dutch skippers are treated this way. “Those skippers are asked to come there to pick up grain from Ukraine. If you are thwarted like this, everyone in the nautical transport sector will soon drop out. That doesn’t help anyone at all.”
According to Schoenmaker, the skippers come from a European country and that country should also be lenient in facilitating the skippers. “That they at least get a land connection, so that they can change staff and do shopping. After all, they are EU citizens. But the system is so rigid. It doesn’t work that way.”
The Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management has now been asked for help. A spokesperson confirmed this and said that they are currently investigating what exactly is going on and whether the ministry can do anything for the skippers.
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