Director Ger van Langen expects that services will be canceled even more often in the coming months if no solution is found for the silting up of the fairway. This causes the unsafe situation.
Faster than expected
The ferry and express service cannot depart on Monday between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. A number of sailings have also been canceled today. Van Langen has sent a letter to Minister Mark Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management urging measures to be taken. “Rijkswaterstaat is doing its best, but the silting process is going faster than expected.”
The government department regularly dredges the fairway, but nature legislation stipulates that the sand may not leave the area and must therefore be dumped elsewhere in the Wadden Sea. It then quickly ends up in the fairway again. “In fact, you are pumping sand around,” said the director. As far as he is concerned, there must be another solution.
Trench too narrow
The fairway has been a problem for some time. Wagenborg said earlier that the channel has become too narrow because it has partially silted up. In October, the shipping company therefore announced that it would switch to one-way traffic if the water levels are too low.
Rijkswaterstaat already suggested in 2019 that a tunnel to the island would be a realistic option.
