The skippers of the deadly collision on the Wadden Sea in 2022 will hear their sentence today. The accident killed four people and injured as many. A twelve-year-old boy was never found. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) demands community service of 180 hours.
The accident happened in the early morning of October 21, 2022. The fast ferry Tiger and the water taxi Stormloper were heading towards each other in the Schuitengat, a channel southwest of Terschelling. They did not reach a clear agreement in their mutual communication on how they would pass each other. The ships collided.
The much smaller water taxi disappeared under the ferry and later resurfaced. Pieces of wreckage, ropes, life jackets and bags were floating everywhere. It immediately became clear that a 57-year-old from Leeuwarden and a 46-year-old from Sexbierum had died. Another man and a twelve-year-old boy were still missing. Four others were injured, one of them seriously.
Involved rescue workers later told NU.nl how they searched for crew members in the dark: “Chaos, really unprecedented. Stuff is floating everywhere.” No one was injured on the Tiger and the damage was limited. The water taxi was salvaged that night.
Several hours later, emergency services had no hope of finding any survivors. The seawater was cold and the current strong. Two weeks later, the body of the missing man washed ashore on Terschelling. The search for the twelve-year-old boy was stopped on December 5. Despite a new search in January by volunteers, he has never been found.
Skipper can’t remember anything
The justice suspects the 35-year-old water taxi skipper and the 49-year-old ferry captain of causing death by negligence and causing serious bodily harm. In addition to the community service, the Public Prosecution Service has demanded suspended prison sentences of three months.
Both boats were traveling too fast at the time of the accident. “If both suspects had followed the rules, this accident would not have happened,” the public prosecutors said in early July during a hearing in the Leeuwarden court.
The Stormloper skipper said he couldn’t remember anything anymore. He only knows that he was in contact with the ferry near Terschelling. “The next moment I was hanging on the tip of the boat,” said the skipper. The captain of the ferry believed that “there was no speed limit.”
Relatives of the fatal victims called on the suspects in the court case to acknowledge their mistakes. “How difficult can it be to take responsibility for your mistakes?” asked the woman who lost her 46-year-old husband and twelve-year-old son.
No more ‘fast rides’
The maximum speed in the Schuitengat is 20 kilometers per hour. Just before the accident, the Tiger was traveling at approximately 54 kilometers per hour and the Stormloper at approximately 29 kilometers per hour.
More than a year later, the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) concluded that sailing on the Wadden Sea must become safer. The OVV wants clearer agreements on, among other things, sailing behavior and communication at sea between ships. Enforcers at sea must also be given more room to fine fast-sailing ships.
In addition, measures will be taken after the accident. For example, ferries are checked to ensure that they do not travel too fast in the Schuitengat.
Finally, water taxis no longer take so-called “fast rides” in the dark. Very occasionally, people still sail at night at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. But because of the risk of fatigue, this only happens if there are two crew members on board.
