Shipping Activity Up in Amsterdam Port

Netherlands' port of Amsterdam welcomed a total of 41,424 barges and 7,525 sea-going vessels in 2018, including 180 sea cruise ships. The numbers for 2017 were 40,012 and 7,011, respectively.

The seaport in Amsterdam said in a press release that while the number of shipping accidents increased from 32 in 2017 to 49 in 2018, the number of serious shipping accidents remained virtually level from 2017. One fatal accident unfortunately occurred in the port in 2018.

Although the port saw an increase in shipping activity levels in 2018, Harbour Master Marleen van de Kerkhof believes there is no causal relationship between this increased activity and the number of incidents.

Marleen said: "This is explained in the notes to these statistics. A large number of the accidents that occurred involved minor incidents such as vessels generating high waves that inconvenienced other waterway users. We aim to reduce the number of shipping accidents of any kind and size."

"Having recorded between 30 and 35 accidents over the past three years, we exceeded this number in 2018. This is due to the fact that we began recording all incidents 2018. We were already keeping track of major incidents, but are now capturing minor occurrences as well,” Marleen added.

The number of recreational vessels passing through the IJmuiden sea locks was also up from 2017: from 9,207 to 10,179 last year.