To improve the accessibility of the Dutch ports and increase safety, the executive arm of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Rijkswaterstaat, will remove (parts of) four shipwrecks between 2013 and 2016. The shipwrecks pose a danger to shipping.
Rijkswaterstaat awarded contracts to Boskalis and Van den Herik Sliedrecht to deepen the shipping channels on 16 January.
Deepening for Future Ships
Due to the shipwrecks, several shipping channels are not deep enough. Three of the four wrecks will be partly removed. An extra metre of the wrecks will be removed to not just make the shipping channels suitable for current ships, but for future, larger ships as well. The other wreck will be removed completely.
Within Four Years
The ship wrecks will be (partly) removed within the coming four years. One will be partly removed in 2013. The planning for the other three is still unclear. For now, the wrecks continue to be indicated on nautical charts. In addition, most wrecks are indicated by buoys. Due to ever larger ships, however, deepening the channels has become a necessity.
Far out at Sea
Boskalis will remove two wrecks far out at sea. They are located on routes large ships use to reach the Dutch ports. 55 km off the coast an unknown wreck hinders the route to the port of IJmuiden. This wreck will be partly removed this year. The wreck of the fishing vessel Jan Breydel, which sunk in 1985, will be removed completely. This wreck is located at an important crossroads of shipping lanes 70 km off the coast of Walcheren.
Close to the Mainland
Van den Herik Sliedrecht will remove parts of the two wrecks closer to the shore. In the shipping lane between Vlieland and Terschelling resides an unknown wreck that hinders traffic on its way to the northern ports. In the Westerschelde lies the wreck of the steam ship Ariana, which sunk in 1952. This wreck hinders inland shipping between Vlissingen and Hansweert.
