Environmental protesters obstruct the access point to Amsterdam for ocean liners.
Eco-activists from Extinction Rebellion caused a disruption on Sunday morning, preventing a cruise ship from entering Amsterdam's port. They attached themselves to two harbor locks in Ijmuiden, a crucial entry point for North Sea shipping traffic to Amsterdam. As a result, the "Serenade of the Seas", a vessel capable of housing a thousand passenger cabins, was unable to access the port. Additionally, an oil tanker was halted in its tracks.
"Oil is lethal, halt cruise ships" was scrawled on one of the locks, as captured in a live broadcast by Extinction Rebellion. The organization claimed that two additional cruise ships were also halted on Sunday. However, the harbor spokesperson refuted this, confirming that both ships managed to reach their destination.
This incident marks the second disruption in the Amsterdam harbor area in a short span of time. On August 10, around 2000 passengers aboard a cruise ship that had been obstructed were transported to Schiphol Airport using buses and trains, as reported by the Dutch NOS broadcaster.**
Since 2022, Extinction Rebellion's climate activists have resorted to blocking actions frequently. One of their recent activities included halting traffic on The Hague's significant A12 highway.**
According to a study by the non-profit organization, Transport and Environment, cruise ships released over eight million metric tons of CO2 into European waters in 2022. This is equivalent to 50,000 round trips between Paris and New York by air. On the other hand, according to the German Environment Agency, air travel is the most environmentally harmful mode of transportation.**
The harbor spokesperson expressed concern about the impact of these disruptions on the transportation of goods and services, highlighting the importance of maintaining unobstructed access to the road for essential cargo. Despite the halt of the "Serenade of the Seas", some cruise lines managed to bypass the disruption and access the port via alternative routes.
