Vaargeul towards Ameland not deep and wide enough, adequate time

Ferries to Ameland must sail at a different time during low tide. Wagenborg Passagiersdiensten, the company providing the crossings, says the fairway conditions have deteriorated, so much so that the channel is no longer deep and wide enough. The company therefore sees no other option than to adjust the timetable.

At low tide it has been decided that boats can no longer cross each other. If so, this means one-way traffic. “Making each other wait for the ferry service and express service will result in further delays for travelers,” predicts the ferry service.

Director Ger van Langen told Omrop Fryslan that crossings will be canceled with some regularity, “because the fairway does not meet the minimum seabed width of 55 meters and a minimum depth of 3.80 meters NAP”. Furthermore, the part of the course that has recently been put into use is “very unstable and in some places even narrower than 45 meters”.

Despite intense dredging efforts by Rijkswaterstaat, the fairway continues to deteriorate. “We know the dredger is doing everything it can to bring the fairway to the agreed minimum size, but with the current equipment that’s not possible,” says Van Langen. “In addition, the dredgers have to exit the trench as the ferry passes. This means less dredging and therefore less results.”