The Public Prosecution Service (OM) will have community service sentences of 180 hours on Tuesday demanded Against two skippers, from a quick boat and a water taxi. According to the prosecutor, the pair could have ‘prevented’ a deadly collision at the Wadden Sea on October 21, 2022. The OM also demands conditional prison sentences of three months against both suspects. They are prosecuted for death by guilt and inflicting serious physical injury.
Four people died in the accident, including a twelve -year -old boy whose body was never found. Four others, including one of the skippers, were injured.
On the morning of October 21, the ferry and the water taxi touched each other in the Schuitengat, a navigation channel between Harlingen and Terschelling. A maximum speed of 20 km/per hour applies there, the OM writes; The water taxi feed slightly less than 30 km/hour, the ferry slightly less than 55 km/hour.
The Dutch Safety Board also concluded that the two boats were going too fast, in a report from 2023. Now the Public Prosecution Service is coming to the same conclusion: “Among other things, there should have been slower sailing. At a lower speed, the ships had had more time to assess the situation.”
The OM also believes that the contact between the skippers was poor. Just before they touched each other, the two had short contact via a VHF radio. The ferry captain thought that the two would pass each other on the starboard side, which is unusual. The Watertaxi relieved unexpectedly at the last minute, writes the OM. Both should have been “more careful.”
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