"Het Westhoofd" is one of the last manned lighthouses in the Netherlands. The coastguard station Ouddorp (VHF Channel 25) is located here. Probably this won't be for long anymore: Dutch Ministry of Transport intends to centralize Coastguard-control and to change "het Westhoofd" in a completely distance operated traffic control station. Radar and camera's will take over the job of the coastguard crew. A bad plan: no matter how sophisticated technical monitoring systems may be, they are no substitute for the human factor. We will not only miss the services and the local knowledge of coastguard crew of Ouddorp, the lack of the visual observations of the crew will also be a safety issue, especial for recreational traffic!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Voordelta - Lighthouse "het Westhoofd"
"Het Westhoofd" is one of the last manned lighthouses in the Netherlands. The coastguard station Ouddorp (VHF Channel 25) is located here. Probably this won't be for long anymore: Dutch Ministry of Transport intends to centralize Coastguard-control and to change "het Westhoofd" in a completely distance operated traffic control station. Radar and camera's will take over the job of the coastguard crew. A bad plan: no matter how sophisticated technical monitoring systems may be, they are no substitute for the human factor. We will not only miss the services and the local knowledge of coastguard crew of Ouddorp, the lack of the visual observations of the crew will also be a safety issue, especial for recreational traffic!
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2 comments:
Hans~
I love your pictures and the general spirit of your Blog! I've let cycling take over my sea kayaking this past year and after spending some time on your Blog I'm inspired to share my time more equally. Great Pictures!!!
Thanks for the nice words!
The choice of spending my time on biking or kayaking is difficult every time again... I blog about kayaking, but love biking too...
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