Supervision of the safety of the historic Dutch sailing fleet has improved significantly. This is evident from the follow-up of the recommendations from the Dutch Safety Board’s report “Safety of the historic sailing fleet”. The Safety Board reviewed what all parties have done so far with the recommendations from the September 2023 report.
Chris van Dam, chairman of the Dutch Safety Board: ‘The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management has set to work energetically together with the Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), the skippers and owners of historic sailing vessels, the professional association for professional charter shipping, the inspection agencies and the Accreditation Council. It is positive that all parties are committed to minimising safety risks on historic sailing vessels.’
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‘Leverage industry knowledge’
The ILT carried out a large-scale supplementary investigation. Of all more than 200 ships in the historic sailing fleet, the mast and rigging were checked. Ships that did not meet the standards were not allowed to set sail. The Dutch Safety Board is positive about all ships being checked.
Van Dam: ‘In doing so, we do call for intelligent monitoring of the standards. Use the knowledge and expertise from the sector itself when monitoring and updating the standards. That creates clarity for skippers and supervisors.’
Also read: Supervision of historic sailing fleet still inadequate
About the Historic Sailing Fleet Safety Investigation
The Dutch Safety Board conducted the investigation Safety Historic Sailing Fleet (Veiligheid Historische Zeilvloot) following two fatal accidents aboard historic sailing vessels in 2022. In 2017, the Safety Board already released the report “Mast Break Harlingen” (Mastbreuk Harlingen). After the 2022 accidents, the council decided to conduct a follow-up investigation to see what lessons could be learned.
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