On Monday evening, November 17, 2025, the Prins Willem-Alexandersluis was temporarily closed. To safely operate the lock again, immediate measures were taken.
An important cause of the closure was that the camera images in the central control post were not clear enough. Therefore, we are temporarily deploying a nautical observer. This is someone who watches on site and supports the operators during critical operations.
The observer communicates with the operator via a walkie-talkie and is located directly on or near the lock area, so he has a good view of the situation at the lock. In addition to the camera images, he acts as an extra pair of eyes during operation. The deployment of the nautical observer remains in effect until the camera images are permanently improved.