The Netherlands Considers Building New Island

The northern Dutch province of Groningen is making plans for creating a new Wadden Island, Dutch newspaper Trouw reported on Thursday.

The current Dutch inhabited islands in the Wadden Sea are Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog. The new isle of 500 hectares should arise between the uninhabited island Rottumeroog, the German island of Borkum and the mainland.

The northwest side of the sandbank isle is planned to contain a beach and salt marshes and the south side a seaport with transshipment terminal.

The costs of creating the island are estimated at one billion euros (1.32 billion U.S. Dollars). These costs should be paid by commercial parties and the government together.

The seaport island could be a solution to several problems. For example, the island should break the sea current and reduce the amount of sludge and mud entering the river Eems. Too much sludge and mud harms the passage of ships and thus the economic development.

However, according to international rules the Netherlands are required to maintain the quality of its deltas and may be forbidden to proceed with activities that will harm nature.

Moreover, a deep channel is no longer needed because all ships can unload outside the Eems at the new isle terminal, which would save government 18 million euros of dredging costs on a yearly basis.

The commercial parties are expected to profit as well from the creation of the island, because the Eems harbor wants to become one of the largest renewable energy ports of Europe. However, currently the supply of gas and coal is problematic because ships have little time to enter the port at high tide.

[mappress]

Source: china.org, December 21, 2012; Image: Beeld and Geluid