Owners of historic ships are also having difficulty keeping their heads above water. They are asking the government for a special emergency fund. Because of the corona crisis, they were not allowed to sail for the first three months of the season. Since 1 June, they have been allowed to do so again, but only with 1/3 of the passengers. This is endangering the survival of the historical ships, say the skippers. 

Most ships are between 100 and 150 years old. If the skipper can no longer afford the maintenance of his or her ship or goes bankrupt, the certificates required to sail with passengers expire. According to the skippers, to obtain a new certificate, the vessels must meet the requirements of a newly built vessel. According to them, this is both technically and financially unfeasible for these ships. "If the entrepreneur goes bankrupt then the ship disappears from the Netherlands".

"Most skippers started their businesses out of love for these unique ships and our beautiful sailing area," says the skipper. "We will never get very rich from it, but by being creative as entrepreneurs, we have managed to keep our impressive fleet sailing until now. At the moment, we don't know how long we will be able to do that."

You can sign the petition here.