Amsterdam tour boats set to protest at City Hall

Several tour- and canal boats will be protesting in Amsterdam on Monday against the municipality's decision to once again redistribute permits for boats over 14 meters. According to the boat owners, this decision puts the jobs of thousands of sailors and shore based personnel at risk, Het Parool reports. The protesting boat owners will sail to Amsterdam's city hall and hand over a petition to the city council at around 12:15 p.m. The aim for the petition is to convince the councilors to postpone the decision on the boats. The Amsterdam mayor and aldermen decided to impose stricter requirements on boats between 14 and 20 meters, with the aim that smaller boats are better, according to the newspaper. Many of the existing boats were built on the old criteria of a maximum of 20 meters, which means that they will be less likely to get a permit than a smaller boat. According to the boat owners, this will result in the disappearance of "sailing heritage, diversity on the canals and a piece of Amsterdam's history".