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Lawsuit found both sides at fault in allision in 2023
Following the allision of the 'Seceda' with the Waalwijk Lock Complex between the Port of Waalwijk and the Bergsche Maas in February 2023, the municipality of Waalwijk claimed nearly 160,000 euros from the ship's master to compensate for damage to lock gates. However, although he ran a red signal and was therefore at fault, the mistake made by the lock keeper carried more weight. The 'Seceda' had sailed into the closing gates of the lock. According to the North Brabant municipality, this was the skipper's fault. He allegedly ran a red signal. According to the skipper, however, the lock keeper had indicated that he would leave the lock gates open for him. He therefore considered the claim of 160,000 euros unjustified. In the lawsuit regarding this matter at the Rotterdam District Court, no AIS data, video footage, radar, or VHF radio data were presented: they were not (or no longer) available. The judge had therefore to base his judgment on what the lock keeper and the skipper have stated regarding the allision. Ahead of the accident, the lock keeper was in the process of locking another ship in, when the skipper reports to indicate that he actually wanted to go from the harbour via the lock to the Bergsche Maas. The lock keeper indicated that he was busy with the other lockage, but that he would leave the lock gates open for him. But once the other ship had sailed out, he closed the gates out of routine. He had forgotten the agreement with the 'Seceda', and that ship subsequently sailed through the lock gates. It was established that the signal was red at that moment. The skipper claimed to remember that the signal was green, but there was no other evidence to support this. And even though, according to the skipper, there was an agreement with the lock keeper: by running the red light, he made a mistake himself. Without that mistake, there would have been no damage. However, the judge reasoned along with the skipper that the lock keeper also made a mistake by closing the lock gates in violation of the agreement. And without this mistake, the allision would not have happened at all. Therefore, the lock keeper, and consequently the municipality, caused a large part of the damage themselves. After some calculations, the municipality's claim amounted to over 146,000 euros. The skipper must pay 30% of that, or nearly 44,000 euros. The municipality was bearing the remaining repair costs itself.
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