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28 June, 2024

Amsterdam to phase out cruise ships from the city centre within the decade

Aerial Panorama of the Amsterdam Centraal Railroad Station, Netherlands. Converted from RAW.

Amsterdam city administrators confirmed at a meeting yesterday they will relocate the city’s cruise passenger terminal away from the city centre by 2035 and half the number of cruise ships allowed to dock at the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam from 2026.

The move at a meeting yesterday by the City of Amsterdam’s Executive Board is a measure to combat overtourism and improve the quality of life for residents, according to the report in the NL Times.

The report follows the full City Council adopting a motion from the socially progressive D66 party last year, calling for cruise ships to be banned from the centre and the cruise terminal to be relocated. In April, the Board also announced its intention to also halve the number of river cruises in the city. The Board is comprised of the mayor, and elected aldermen from the local coalition parties.

CLIA says it’s a result of ‘collaborative discussions’

But the Cruise Line International Association said a “ban” was a misinterpretation of the long-term future of the port.

“Today’s announcement is a great example of the cruise industry’s long-standing partnership with the Port of Amsterdam and the direct outcome of our collaborative discussions on the relocation of the passenger terminal outside the city centre, which started back in 2016,” CLIA said in a statement.

“Amsterdam is and will remain a popular cruise destination, and cruise tourism will continue delivering important economic benefits to the city – to the tune of around 105 million Euros annually. That economic contribution is particularly significant when you consider that of the more than 21 million visitors to Amsterdam each year, only around 1 per cent arrive by cruise ship.”

Last year, Ilana Rooderkerk, the leader of D66 said “polluting cruise [ships] is not in line with Amsterdam’s sustainable ambitions” and claimed that cruise ships run against the city’s “task of combating mass tourism”.

According to a BBC news report, Rooderkerk also compared cruise tourists to a type of “plague of locusts” descending all at once on the city.

Currently, 190 cruises are allowed to dock annually at the PTA near Amsterdam Central Station. That will be capped at a maximum of 100, 18 months from now. Those ships that do arrive in the city centre will also be required to use shore power, starting in 2027, to cut down on diesel emissions and reduce noise pollution.

Similar proposals are being implemented globally with White Bay Cruise Terminal in Sydney scheduled to introduce shore power at some stage this year.

All you need to know about White Bay Cruise Terminal

Berths also to be halved

The PTA currently has two cruise ship berths, but that will also be cut to one from 2027, the Executive Board added.

“Sea cruises are a polluting form of tourism and contributes to crowds and emissions in the city. By limiting sea cruises, requiring shore power and aiming for the cruise terminal (PTA) to move from its current location in 2035, the Board is responsibly responding to the City Council’s proposal to stop sea cruising,” alderman Hester van Buren said.

It is still being investigated whether the passenger terminal can be moved from its current location on the Veemkade to the Coenhaven, according to the report.

“Based on this feasibility study, the Board will decide in consultation with the national government, the Port Authority and the province of Noord-Holland whether relocation is feasible from 2035.”

Feature image: Amsterdam Centraal Railroad Station, Netherlands and the nearby cruise port.

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