Is there a solution for the inland vessels with toxic cargo?

One of the two skippers who have doubts about the plan is Daniël Boere. While sailing, he lives with his wife and children on the ship moored in Utrecht. “It is a risky business to sail there, so we want a financial compensation for that as risk cover,” he tells the NOS.

He has not yet been promised that compensation, he says. “The owner of the wheat, the De Heus company, has to pay that financial expense allowance, otherwise nothing will happen.” His children are also not allowed on board for safety reasons. “So there has to be a solution for that too.”

If it’s up to the skipper, the ship just stays put. “Because it’s an unsafe area. Then it might take four weeks before the gas is out on its own. That doesn’t matter to us, because this counts as overtime, so we just get paid.”

Impasse

In any case, today’s solution is a step further than the deadlock that was there before. Previously, the parties involved could not agree on the next steps, says Fluitsma of ASV. “Nobody wanted the ships. There is a lot of uncertainty, including about how this could have happened.”

The ships were supposed to divert to the harbor in Amsterdam, but they were refused there. A spokesperson for the Port of Amsterdam denied this. A plan to move to Nieuwegein also fell through.

Concerns of local residents

Meanwhile, the ships are waiting in Zwolle, Utrecht and Veghel. Local residents in Zwolle are concerned about the ‘poison ship’, reports RTV East. GroenLinks member of parliament Robert Jansen has submitted written questions about the risks for crew, local residents and nature and the environment.

However, the municipality of Zwolle and the IJsselland Security Region say that the ship does not pose a threat to the immediate vicinity, because the concentration of phosphine is too high in the cargo area only.

–