Töwerland water taxis shutdown: security deficiencies provide chaos!

Töwerland water taxis shutdown: security deficiencies provide chaos!

Terschelling, Niederlande - The Situation around the Töwerland water taxis to the popular East Frisian island of Juist has worsened dramatically. The five water taxis are currently set in the port due to considerable security deficiencies. This was decided by the traffic association Verkehr, which Reeder Jörg Schmidt interprets as a kind of "return carriage" of the authorities. He comments and describes the whole situation as "catastrophe" (

The tightened safety regulations, which were implemented by the Federal Ministry of Transport in November 2022, contributed to this massive decommissioning in combination with missing documents such as Polish Seefunk number and ship crew certificate. The passengers had to be rebooked onto the ferries of the Frisia shipping company, while Schmidt tried to partially replace the fleet with a chartered boat from Spiekeroog. Ultimately, it is a hard blow both for him and for his approximately 20 employees, because according to Schmidt, the loss of sales amounts to 200,000 euros per month.

This decommissioning also dies in the shadows of a tragic incident of 2022, as four people, including a 12-year-old boy, died in a similar accident before Terschelling. In the recent past, too, there have been various incidents with the Töwerland boats, which ranged on a sandbar from an engine failure to one rising. Despite these challenges, Schmidt has improved: "All Töwis are now equipped with two engines," he assures ( Stegfunk.de ). This tragic event once again shows us how important security precautions are in shipping.

The further procedure

Hope for the soon-to-be approval of the Töwerland fleet dies. Schmidt has already signaled to continue driving his fleet under Polish flag, as this reduces the requirements and requirements for the crew. With a one-man crew, it could act much more flexibly and thus economically more successful. A first sign of progress is the complete revision of its boats and the compliance with all the necessary security standards (DetailsOrtTerschelling, NiederlandeQuellen

• www.ndr.de
• www.stegfunk.de