The aim is to make shipping safer. The considerations had been underway for some time, but after a Collision between two ships in December 2012 with eleven fatalities, the planning became more concrete. According to Rijkswaterstaat, the highest water authority in the Netherlands, the shipping lanes are further away from the coast and there will be fewer crossing situations from now on.
The harbour of IJmuiden will have its own separation area in the approach, so that there will also be fewer encounters there.
Work on laying the bins began on 30 July and the new regulations will come into force from midnight UTC (2.00 a.m. local time) on 1 August. In this context, the Delayed publication of the nautical chart in 1801 for the Netherlands at the beginning of June. Due to savings, it is the only new set of recreational craft charts published by the Hydrographic Service this year, with the exception of charts 1811 and 1812 (Wadden Sea). It already shows the new situation. The other sets will not be reissued.
Changed flow conditions
The filling of a harbour extension, the so-called tweede Maasvlakte, in front of the port of Rotterdam has changed the current conditions under the coast. While the recommended passage route for small vessels used to involve a current of around 1.7 knots along the coast at Springtide, this has doubled as a result of the filling in of the tweede Maasvlakte. This increases the passage time when the current is running against you. It is therefore necessary to use the current more than before.
