Extinction Rebellion activists caused significant disruption on Sunday morning, August 18, by blocking a cruise ship from entering Port Amsterdam (Holland).
The activists attached themselves to two harbor locks in Ijmuiden, a key entry point for shipping traffic from the North Sea to Amsterdam. This action prevented the Serenade of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship with a capacity for 1,000 passenger cabins, from accessing the port. An oil tanker was also stopped as a result of the blockade.
The phrase "Oil is lethal, halt cruise ships" was displayed on one of the locks, as shown in a live broadcast by Extinction Rebellion. The organization claimed that two additional cruise ships were halted on the same day, but a harbor spokesperson clarified that both ships successfully reached their destinations.
This incident is the second disruption in the Amsterdam harbor area within a short period. On August 10, ~2,000 passengers from a cruise ship that had been blocked were transported to Schiphol Airport via buses and trains, according to Dutch broadcaster NOS.
Extinction Rebellion has frequently employed blocking actions since 2022, with recent activities including the disruption of traffic on The Hague's A12 highway. A study by Transport and Environment, a non-profit organization, reported that cruise ships emitted over eight million metric tons of CO2 into European waters in 2022, equivalent to 50,000 round trips between Paris and New York by air. Despite these findings, the German Environment Agency considers air travel the most environmentally harmful mode of transportation.
The harbor spokesperson expressed concern over the impact of these disruptions on the transport of goods and services, emphasizing the need to keep essential cargo routes open.
Despite the blockade of the "Serenade of the Seas," some cruise lines managed to bypass the disruption and access the port via alternative routes.
For more Serenade of the Seas incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.