King opens largest sea sluice in the world at IJmuiden

 DutchNews, January 26, 2022

Zeesluis IJmuiden is open for shipping. Photo: ANP/Robin van Lonkhuijsen

King Willem-Alexander opened the largest sea sluice in the world at IJmuiden on Wednesday afternoon, concluding a project that finished over time and over budget. 

The new sluice replaces the smaller Noordersluis which was built in 1929. The construction of the new sluice, which was started in 2016 and expected to be finished in 2019, was plagued by mishaps, causing delays and rising costs. 

A construction error made by builders BAM and VolkerWessels cost the companies hundreds of millions of euros to rectify. 

A public contest to name the new landmark sparked hilarity online when Velsen municipality sifted through 5,000 entries before opting for the prosaic ‘Zeesluis IJmuiden’. Infrastructure minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen said: ‘The name Zeesluis IJmuiden is exactly what it is.’

 Alternative suggestions included De Irma Sluis, after the sign language interpreter who became a household name during the coronavirus press conferences, but the idea was rejected because public infrastructure projects cannot be named after living people, except for royalty. 

The sluice, which is 500 metres long, 70 metres wide and 18 metres deep, has been put through its paces since the summer and is now ready to accommodate today’s ever-larger sea vessels, waterways agency Rijkswaterstaatsaid.

‘Amsterdam has just been given a bigger front door,’ Jaap Zeilmaker of Rijkswaterstaat said. ‘The new sluice will not just benefit the economy but thanks to the technical expertise involved sea level rise and the influx of salt water have also been taken into account.’ 

Investigators look into role of sea foam in surfer deaths

DutchNews, May 13, 2020 

Friends and family of the dead surfers have been placing flowers on the beach.
Photo: Robin Utrecht HH

Dutch sea research institute NIOZ is investigating the possible role of a thick layer of sea foam in the death of five surfers off the coast of Scheveningen on Monday evening. 

Several experts have suggested the surfers may have become disorientated in the foam, which according to some eyewitnesses was over two metres high as it approached the harbour wall. 

Sea foam is formed when sea water has a high concentration of dissolved organic matter from algal blooms and is whipped up by the wind. 

‘There was a lot of foam and this may be due to the large quantity of algae,’ researcher Katja Philippart told broadcaster NOS. ‘This might be due to the good weather of recent days, combined with the strong winds.’ 

However, Philippart told NOS she is not aware of any cases in which people have been suffocated by sea foam. 

One body has not yet been recovered and the search resumed on Wednesday morning. Two other bodies were found earlier on Tuesday morning and two others died after being pulled from the sea on Monday evening. Three of the men who died came from The Hague, the other two from Delft. 

The Hague mayor Johan Remkes told reporters at a press conference that a thorough investigation into what happened would now take place. ‘How can it be that people with so much experience and who knew this place so well came to die,’ Remkes said. 

In total, 10 people are thought to have been in the water at the time, a group of six, a group of three and one single surfer. 

Community 

Friends and family of the dead have been flocking to the location where the five men died, to leave flowers and comfort one another. The deaths have caused shock throughout the Netherlands’ surfing scene. 

‘These were very experienced surfers and swimmers, with a great love for the sea and their sport,’ the Holland Surfing Association said. ‘They were caught up in extraordinary circumstances and lost their lives in such a tragic way.’

Dolphin Zafar, which followed ship to Amsterdam, is found dead

DutchNews, May 13, 2020

Dolphin Zafar in the port of Amsterdam . Photo: Jeroen Hoekendijk

The dolphin which followed a Dutch sailing boat into Amsterdam harbour before being led back to sea has been found dead on the beach at Wijk aan Zee. 

The dead animal, known as Zafar, was found by a man out walking his dog lying in the surf. 

The body has been taken to Utrecht University for a post mortem, animal welfare group SOS Dolfijn said. The animal appears to have died fairly recently and its tail is missing, the organisation said. 

The bottlenosed dolphin was healthy when it returned to the sea and had been catching fish, a spokesman told broadcaster NOS. 

The dolphin was given its name after it was first spotted on the coast of France in 2018 where it was observed to interact with divers.

Het is gelukt!
De dolfijn is de sluis van IJmuiden doorgezwommen en begeleidt richting zee. Tussen de pieren in de havenmonding bleef de dolfijn nog wat rondhangen bij boeien. Maar vanaf dat punt is de toegang naar zee vrij voor het dier. pic.twitter.com/nb8DiWxGE7

— SOSDolfijn (@SOSDolfijn) May 3, 2020

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Dolphin spotted in port of Amsterdam is reluctant to leave

Amsterdam port’s dolphin follows sailing ship back to the sea

Dolphin spotted in port of Amsterdam is reluctant to leave

DutchNews, May 3, 2020

A lone dolphin has followed a sailing boat carrying a cargo of fair trade coffee and rum from the French coast to Amsterdam’s port and seems reluctant to leave the ship, experts said on Sunday. 

The animal is fit and healthy but rescue organisation SOS Dolfijn said the brackish water is not good for the animal and it may not be able to find enough food. 

‘The animal seems to have developed a close connection with the ship and stayed swimming with it through the sluice gates and now it is in the port,’ said spokesman Eligius Everaarts. 

Attempts to lure the animal back to the open sea are being hindered by the fact that it will have to swim though the sluices at IJmuiden, which means the rescue operation can only happen when the gates are open. 

SOS Dolfijn tried to make the animal follow their boat but after a while it turned and went back to the ship. The schooner which it followed cannot be used to guide the animal back because it must be unloaded first. 

Catching the animal is not option either, the organisation said, because the port is a large area and the manoeuvre could put the animal’s life in danger. 

‘It may make it out on its own bit that will depend on the sluices,’ a spokesperson for the organisation said. 

The adult bottle nose dolphin has been identified as Zafar, a dolphin which has been spotted on the coast of France in 2018 where it was observed to interact with divers. 

The organisation said it will continue to monitor the situation. 

Update Sunday evening: According to broadcaster NOS, the dolphin was successfully encouraged to return to the sea on Sunday afternoon.

The dolphin next to the sailing ship on his way back to the ocean. Photo: Olaf Kraak ANP

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Amsterdam port’s dolphin follows sailing ship back to the sea

Dutch mega dam scheme raises awareness of climate crisis

Dutchews, February 13, 2020 

The Afsluitdijk had a major impact on the marine environment. Photo: Roobit
via Wikimedia Commons

A scheme to build two giant dams in the North Sea to ward of rising sea levels caused by global warming could protect some 25 million Europeans from devastating floods, Dutch-Swedish research shows. 

Although the project would be technically feasible and would ‘only’ costs 0.1% of the countries protected by the dams GDP over 20 years, it is intended as ‘a doom scenario, a warning of what we are heading for,’ oceanographer Sjoerd Groeskam said. 

‘It’s the last thing we actually want to do because of the immense consequences for nature, the maritime industry and many other things,’ he said. ‘The best thing is to reduce climate change to a minimum.’ 

However, should the worst come to the worst, Groeskam and his Swedish colleague Joakim Kjellson have calculated the Northern European Enclosure Dam could be instrumental in saving the lives, but not the livelihoods of Europeans. 

‘The dams, one between Scotland and Norway and one between France and the southwest of England, would make the tides disappear and eventually turn the North Sea into a fresh water lake and nature and the fishery industry would undergo a major change,’ Groeskamp said. 

The technical side would be patterned on technology used to build oil platforms at great depths, the scientists said. To get to an estimate of the costs – between €250bn and €500bn – they looked at the finance involved in huge dam building projects in South Korea. ‘You also have to take into account the cost of revenue loss from fishing and shipping and costs for pumping out river water,’ Groeskamp said. 

The project, which will be published in the American Meterological Journal next month, is a serious warning to make sure it never has to come to this, Groeskamp said. 

‘The cost and the consequences of a project like this are huge. But the costs of doing nothing will be higher still. This dam shows what the consequences of the most pessimistic forecasts about rising sea levels will be: 10 metres by 2500. This dam is a call to action. If we do not stop climate change now we may well have to build the dam after all.’ 

So far the attempt by the scientists to raise awareness has resulted in a flurry of international press attention, including the Guardian and the Daily Mail.

Rare albino seal returned to the wild has good chance of survival

DutchNews, January 16, 2020 - By Hanneke Sanou 

The albino seal with transmitter. Photo: Ecomare

The albino seal that was returned to the wild on Wednesday stands a good chance of survival, seal sanctuary Ecomare has told Dutchnews.nl. 

The seal, the first albino ever treated at Ecomare, was brought into the centre on Texel in October. The animal was emaciated and was suffering from a lungworm infection. 

Mariette Smit, head of the animal care department at Ecomare said albinism in wild seals happens occasionally but that very little is known about it. 

‘We have no reason to doubt that he will not survive,’ Smit told Dutchnews.nl. ‘Seals are top predators, they have no natural enemies in the Wadden Sea, and we don’t expect any social problems in his relationship with other seals. They are solitary animals in general even though they cluster on the same sandbanks.’ 

The only problem the seal may have is with its eyes, which are very sensitive to light. ‘It will adapt by narrowing his eyes to keep out the brightness’, Smit said. 

The seal has been fitted with a transmitter so Ecomare can keep track of the seal’s journey through the Wadden Sea as well  as collect other data, for instance how long it rests and how deep it dives. Ecomare also wants to know how seals that have spent time at the centre interact with other seals.

The Netherlands calls on Shell to clean up North Sea oil rigs

DutchNews, October 10, 2019

The four Brent platforms: Photo: Shell 

The Dutch government wants Shell to clean up the foundations of three oil and gas platforms in the British part of the North Sea, infrastructure minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen has told MPs. 

The minister’s comments follow the publication of a report on the decommissioning operation which recommends the clean up be carried out as agreed over 20 years ago in international treaties. 

The licence request ‘does not sufficiently support’ the claim that leaving the foundations and storage units, which contain polluted material, is the best option from an environmental or safety point of view, the minister told MPs. 

The Netherlands, she said, will join Germany in making a formal protest about the plan. 

The clean-up was agreed in a special treaty known as Ospar which was adopted in 1992. The Ospar treaty states that rigs, including their contents and pipelines, must be removed from the sea after decommissioning. 

Shell, however, wants to leave the foundations of three of the four Brent platforms – Brent Bravo, Brent Charlie and Brent Delta – in the North Sea. It argues that removing the three concrete constructions would be risky and expensive. 

Risks 

‘Constructed nearly half a century ago, they were not designed to be removed,’ Shell said when submitting the decommissioning plans in 2017.  ‘We have to consider the safety of those who will work offshore to deliver this project. The safety risks associated with trying to remove them outweigh minimal environmental benefit.’ 

The final decision is up to Britain and it is keen to make an exception for the three platforms. Germany and the Netherlands, which only have an advisory role, are opposed, fearing the impact of leaks of polluted oil in the concrete bases on marine life. 

The topside of the Brent Bravo platform was taken to Britain for scrapping in June this year. 

The Brent field was discovered in 1971 and started production five years later.

Eritrean man picked up in North Sea on home-made raft

DutchNews, June 3, 2019

Photo: Ko van Leeuwen

The Dutch sea rescue services on Sunday rescued an Eritrean man who was trying to cross the North Sea to England on a home-made raft. 

The KNRM said it picked up the man on Sunday morning near IJmuiden, the port to the west of Amsterdam, close to a busy shipping route. 

The triangular raft had been made out of tree trncks and plastic plant pots filled with plastic bottles and polystyrene for buoyancy and tied together with rope. It had a plastic sail, and carried a jerrycan of water and a solar panel to power a mobile phone. 

According to the Noordhollands Dagblad, the man wanted to take advantage of the ebb tide to reach the wider sea and was completely reliant on wind and the tides for the 190 kilometre crossing. 

The man, said to be 26 years old, is being questioned by border police. 

‘I have never seen anything like this and I hope it is the last time I do,’ KNRM captain Walter Schol said. ‘The raft is not at all seaworthy and he was very lucky with the weather, otherwise this could have ended very differently.’

North Sea container clean-up bonus: the wreck of a 16th century ship

DutchNews, April 3, 2019

Minister Engelshoven (left) inspects some of the copper sheeting. Photo: Robbert
Frank Hagens / HH

A clean-up operation to retrieve some of the containers blown off the MSC Zoe in February from the bottom of the North Sea has revealed the remains of a 16th century ship, Nu.nl reports. 

The find, which was made public by culture minister Ingrid van Engelshoven on Wednesday, came to light when the salvage company fished out a number copper plates which they initially thought had been part of the contents of one of the containers. 

When their second haul contained a number of oak beams they called in marine archaeologists. 

The beams turned out to be made from trees cut down in 1536 while the copper plates were used to make copper coins which were later used by merchants in the Golden Age. 

The plates were found to be carrying the mark of the influential German Fugger banking and merchant family which dominated European business life in the 15th and 16th centuries. Archaeologists said it is the oldest copper cargo ever found in the Netherlands. 

The ship measures some 7.5 meters across and 25 to 30 meters in length. ‘It has a flat bottom so it could carry big loads,’ maritime archaeologist Alice Overmeer told Nu.nl. ‘It is the type of ship that was built in the northern Netherlands.’ 

Research into the wreck will continue during the summer. 

Some 345 containers were lost during the February storm on the North Sea with goods littering the beaches of the Wadden islands for weeks. Minister Van Engelshoven called the accidental discovery of the wreck ‘a silver lining’.

Dutch maritime investigators searching for missing containers washed overboard during a North Sea storm have accidentally stumbled on a 16-century shipwreck, the oldest such a find to date https://t.co/nk2BZGN2w1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 3 april 2019

Ship loses potentially dangerous cargo in North Sea: Coastguard

Yahoo – AFP, January 2, 2019

Ship loses potentially dangerous cargo in North Sea: Coastguard

The Hague (AFP) - A cargo ship caught in rough North Sea weather lost at least 270 containers, including four holding potentially dangerous substances, the Dutch and German coastguards said Wednesday.

The Panama-registered MSC Zoe shed the containers containing mostly toys, furniture and auto spare parts while battling a storm off the Frisian Islands, an archipelago off the northwestern Dutch coast also known as the Wadden Islands.

The Dutch coastguard tweeted that three of the containers contained, in powder form, highly flammable, potentially dangerous organic peroxides used in making plastics which can cause irritation if breathed in.

German coastguard sources said they had located one container holding organic peroxide among six containers that reached the country's coastline.

They also warned the public not to touch the containers if found, but to call police or the fire brigade.

The Dutch coastguard, which said the containers went overboard not far from the German island of Borkum, added they did not have information about the content of cargo beyond that of the 20 or so containers which washed up on the islands.

Dutch broadcaster NOS showed local people around one of the containers and pictured toys and other materials strewn across beaches as well as one man carrying off a flat screen television.

A Dutch coastguard spokesman told NOS it was likely the containers holding the peroxides had sunk.

A Dutch coastguard plane was due to undertake a new search on Thursday morning while strong winds were hampering the MSC Zoe's own attempts to carry out an inventory.

The mayor of Terschelling island, where some of the cargo washed ashore, told NOS he expected it would take several days to clear the beach of stray items from the containers.

The 2015-built MSC Zoe, which was headed to the northern German port of Bremerhaven, is one of the world's largest container vessels at 396 metres (1300 feet) long and 59 metres wide.

Photo: Kustwacht

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Photos show chaos on container ship as Dutch beach clean-up begins

The Dutch military joined beach clean-up efforts, two days after some 270 shipping containers tumbled from one of the world's biggest cargo boats into the North Sea in stormy weather https://t.co/GS6IPT8Pqz

— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 4, 2019

Wil je straks helpen met #helpwad #CleanupWadden #OpruimActie na de #containerramp met #MSCZoe? In dit kaartje zijn we allerlei plekken aan het verzamelen waar je aan de slag kunt. https://t.co/oTwfqwbJ55

Aanvullingen / aanpassingen? Geef maar door.

Delen / embedden: feel free

— Ritzo ten Cate (@ritzotencate) January 5, 2019

Hot weather brings surprise guests, dolphins spotted in the North Sea

DutchNews, July 31, 2018

The recent spate of unusually hot water has brought some unexpected guests to the North Sea. A Dutch fisherman spotted a group of about ten dolphins in waters between the Netherlands and the coast of England and filmed the group. 

The animals have been feeding in the area for weeks near a big sandbank where there is plenty of food. 

According to Jessica Meerbeek of SOS Dolfijn the animals are definitely dolphins, ‘What we don’t know is the exact species. We think they may be bottlenose dolphins or perhaps white-beaked dolphins. They are definitely not porpoise,’ she told broadcaster NOS. 

Experts say the hot weather has made food in the North Sea more plentiful and that has attracted the dolphins.

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"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll)

(Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Weather

Let's talk about the weather. We retreat to exactly what we told you before in this very chair. The water cycle is a cooling cycle, not a heating cycle. You're going to have more severe winters and storms. It's going to get colder. But it gets warmer before it gets colder. That is the cycle, and it has always been the cycle. You can see it in the rings of the trees and the cores of the ice. Don't let your scientists pull the political wool over your eyes for their own purposes. Start seeing these things for what they are. It's a recurring cycle based on four Earth alignment attributes, including the wobble (the precession). You're in this cycle. Prepare.

The beginnings of it will be with you from now at least until the end of the 2012 36-year window, and you can watch it work. The first thing that happens is that the ice melts at the poles, but not completely. It's the way it has happened before. As the redistribution of weight from the poles to the oceans of the earth takes place, the weight is redistributed to the crust, and that creates earthquakes. And the earthquakes that will be the most powerful are the ones that are closest to the poles. We told you that some time ago. So it's not a mystery that suddenly you have some of the most powerful earthquakes that you've ever had. Not only that, but a cooling ocean creates larger storms.

What do the conspiracists do with all this? "See? We're doomed. Here it comes," they say. "Here it comes! The end is here!" Twenty-two years ago, we gave you the information that is happening today. We told you about the weather. We told you to get ready for it, but we still haven't told you why the water cycle is needed. We've hinted at it since it is very controversial, and we'll lose many readers right here and now. Here's the prediction: The scientists are going to laugh and biologists are going to scratch their heads and roll their eyes.

The Refreshing of the Cycle of Life

When you change the temperature of the waters of the planet, it changes the life cycle of the ocean and it eventually renews itself. The life cycle of the planet has a limit to its viability over time. There has to be a refreshing of the very cycle of life, and this is what the water cycle does. Are there any places you've seen too many fish lately? Yes. Millions of salmon in the north. Odd that it was in Alaska, isn't it? Alaska is very close to the poles where the water temperature is being felt first. Oh, again the experts will tell you that this is not the reason. It's about hatcheries and rivers. But nobody predicted this, did they? Science is fast to give you reasons, but slow to give you logic in advance. They always seem to be surprised.

We are saying things we haven't said before. Again, watch for this, an actual change in the life cycle of the planet's oceans because of the water temperature shift. Biologists are going to have to start redesigning the paradigm of how everything works, including reefs, ocean bottoms, and how plankton survive and reproduce. Listen, this is not the first time that the life cycle has been refreshed! But again, this may take generations of humanity to complete. In the process, you may again lose species. This is normal. Gaia is slow, and Humans are impatient. Your textbooks may someday tell of how naive humanity was back in 2011 when they tried to blame weather changes on everything but a natural cycle. Now you know why there is a water cycle.

So what does that tell you about Gaia? Gaia is beginning the cycle of refreshing life on over-fished oceans. It tells you that in the cracks, there is love and caring about the Humans who live on the earth. There's a reason you're here. There's a plan here, and a benevolent Universe and quantum energy with intelligent design. All is there for you, precious, sacred Human Being. …”

Greenpeace protestors occupy North Sea rig, three arrested in Lauwersoog

DutchNews, February 16, 2018

Photo: Greenpeace 

Police in the Groningen port of Lauwersoog have arrested three members of the environmental organisation Greenpeace for getting too close to a drilling rig off the coast of the Wadden island of Schiermonnikoog. 

The three were taking part in a protest against test drilling for gas but had returned to the mainland because they were seasick in the rough seas, broadcaster NOS said.   

The platform, owned by a company called Hansa Hydrocarbons, is some 20km into the North Sea and was occupied by several Greenpeace protesters on Thursday. 

Protests are also taking place on the Wadden Sea island itself. The island’s mayor Ineke van Gent, who has joined the protestors, told local broadcaster RTV Noord: ‘We should be moving over to sustainable energy. You should not be drilling for gas near a vulnerable nature reserve.’ 

Economic affairs minister Erik Wiebes said on Thursday that locals should not be worried about the test drilling. ‘You hardly see the rig,’ he said. ‘On a clear day, if you look closely, you can see a spot.’ 

British company Hansa Hydrocarbons is trying to establish if the gas field in the area is big enough to exploit commercially.

Dutch grid operator moves forward with North Sea wind plan

DutchNews, March 8, 2017

Illustration: Tennet website

Dutch grid operator Tennet and Denmark’s Energinet have reached agreement on further developing a large renewable European electricity system in the North Sea. 

The plan, first unveiled in June 2016, will play an important part in meeting the 2050 climate goals formulated in the Paris Agreement (COP21), the partners said in a statement on Wednesday. Discussions with other potential partners are ongoing. 

The plan centres on the construction of one or more islands with interconnections to surrounding countries in the middle of the North Sea area of Dogger Bank. 

These hubs would be connection points for wind farms, allowing electricity to be distributed and transmitted over direct current lines to the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Norway and Belgium. 

The Dogger Bank area also has excellent wind conditions and the area is relatively shallow, making it cheaper to build the wind farms and the island, the consortium said. 

‘This project can significantly contribute to a completely renewable supply of electricity in northwest Europe,’ said Tennet CEO Mel Kroon.