Amsterdam skipper fined for excessive Christmas lights
A skipper in Amsterdam was arrested and fined by the nautical authorities on Thursday for having too many Christmas lights on board. The man was transporting visitors to the Amsterdam Light Festival and, according to official regulations, canal boats are only allowed to carry a limited number of lights, Frans Heijn of the sector organization United Shipping Companies Amsterdam told NH Nieuws.
“The official regulations state that you are only allowed to have navigation lights: a red and a green light for port and starboard, and a white light at the front and back, so you can see where the boats are going,” Heijn said.
Until recently, some Christmas lights were tolerated as long as they didn’t obscure the navigation lights, did not flicker, and the decorated canal boats did not enter the IJ. But this year, the nautical authorities are enforcing the rules more strictly. According to Heijn, the city informed several shipping companies about this a short time ago.
According to Amsterdam alderman Melanie van der Horst, the stricter enforcement is to increase safety on the water. “In some cases, the Christmas lights make the navigation lights of boats difficult to see, or even completely invisible,” she said after questions in the city council about recent fines. “This jeopardizes the flow of shipping traffic. In such cases, the police or enforcement officers on the water can intervene and switch off the lights.”
Heijn does not agree with that argument, especially during the Amsterdam Light Festival, when all canal boats have to follow a fixed route. “During the Light Festival, all the boats sail in the same direction; it’s one-way traffic. You know exactly where they’re going, and they’re all traveling at less than six kilometers per hour. For safety reasons, you really don’t need to do this,” he told the regional broadcaster.
