The Port of Rotterdam Authority reported a slight decrease in accidents in 2022. In particular, 137 accidents occurred in the Dutch port, compared to 141 in 2021.
At the same time, there was a small increase in sea-going vessels that arrived at the port in 2022 with 29,029 ships reaching Rotterdam compared to 28,876 in the previous year. Additionally, there were fewer inland vessels in 2022 – 97,459 compared to 98,469 in 2021.
The Port of Rotterdam Authority noted that two accidents in the port left their mark last year involving a water taxi and a fatal accident caused by the capsizing of an inland vessel.
State harbour master René de Vries presented on 26 January the main results of the 2022 nautical annual figures.
He commented, “Due to a fatal accident in the port, we obviously cannot be satisfied with the results of the past year. The number of 137 accidents seems a lot, but these involve mainly so-called ‘parking damage’. The water taxi accident does worry us. We await the results and recommendations of the investigation by the Safety Board. However, we see the use of waterways in the city region getting busier and busier. We are doing our best to influence navigational behaviour in recreational and passenger shipping.”
The major European port said that monitoring of the navigational behaviour of recreational and passenger shipping has been intensified, while regular coordination takes place on identified dangerous situations.
Also, the Port Authority’s Harbour Master’s Division has now extended traffic control on a trial basis to include camera supervisors.
According to the Port of Rotterdam, in the coming period, the camera network in the port and industrial area serving Seaport Police, Customs and the Port Authority will be expanded from 220 to 280 cameras.
The harbour master also expressed satisfaction with the gradual decline in recreational sailing accidents – from 14 in 2018 to 6 in 2022. “However, this concerns an extremely vulnerable group of waterway users. The risk of things going wrong remains high,” he pointed out.
