The former radio ship of Radio Veronica, the Norderney, has been seized by the port authorities in Antwerp because of non-payment of harbour fees.

The Norderney has been located in Antwerp since 3 May, 2001. For some years it was used as a restaurant. For the last two years the ship has been boarded up to deter souvenir hunters.

Over the past few years, several attempts were made to bring the Norderney back to the Netherlands. There was also an attempt to move the ship to Spain. All the attempts failed due to the unavailability of environmental licences and the asking price of the current owners.

• Update: Co-owner Wout van der Meer told Dutch media analyst Hans Knot that the reported seizure was "all nonsense; the harbour fees have been paid until the end of April". Antwerp port authorities have also denied that the MV Norderney was seized.

(as/rk)

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