Friendship

The 'Friendship' ran aground at the port entrance of West-Terschelling in the evening of Dec 22, 2019. The ship was on the way back from a job at sea when it ran into problems off the port. Tugs of Noordgat and KNRM boats were called and managed to refloat the ship which was then able to sail into the port on its own. The damage to the ship seemed to be minor, and it left the port again on Dec 23 at 9 a.m. The cause of the accident was not yet known. Dutch report with photo: https://www.lc.nl/friesland/terschelling/Bergingsschip-loopt-vast-bij-haven-Terschelling-25170002.html?harvest_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.de%2F

The "Friendship" recovered five large boulders with boreholes after a day fishing on the Klaver Bank. A judge told Greenpeace to recover the remainder next week, but the Dutch Fishermen's Association has not much faith in it. There were 500 prosecutions against Greenpeace, but nothing happened. The environmental activists had dumped large boulders on the Klaver Bank, an important fishing area in the North Sea, about 160 kilometers northwest of Den Helder, in May. Greenpeace believes that the Dutch government is not acting decisively enough to protect the nature. The stones should help the area to create a "fish paradise". Fishermen are furious about the action of the environmental organization. The stones may damage fishing gear, small fishing boats can capsize if they catchthe stones in their nets. Dutch report with photo; http://www.refdag.nl/nieuws/economie/schip_friendship_vist_de_grote_keien_van_greenpeace_op_1_919343