A'dam officials: Cruise ship ban will harm other projects needing national cooperation

Officials in Amsterdam fear that the city’s decision to ban sea cruises from 2035 will damage the city’s relationship with the national government and thus negatively impact many other projects that require national cooperation. Parool discovered this in confidential official reports, requested by the VVD and CDA.

Nearly all the municipal executives involved with the ban on sea cruises advised the mayor and aldermen not to choose a definitive course for the future of the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam (PTA).

A common thread in their advice is concerns about the relationship with the national government. The officials point out that many joint projects are in “crucial decision-making phases in the period 2026-2028” and progress “in almost all cases depends on mutual trust and fulfilling previously made agreements.” Banning sea cruises could immediately undermine that trust.

Officials at the Land & Development department warned that a ban “could potentially have adverse consequences for several other port-related issues,” including the Oostbrug across the IJ and Shipdock, a neighborhood where the city wants to build 9.600 homes. Officials also warned of consequences for projects like the Zuidasdok and extending the Noord-Zuid metro line to Schiphol, “given their dependence on the national government.”

The city officials feel that the risks to projects and the relationship with the national government outweigh the “positive effects of discontinuing sea cruises on sustainability and the quality of life in the city,” Parool quoted from an internal summary.