One-skipper ferry trial: works council calls the plan irresponsible

The one-skipper ferry trial has been the most charged topic around the Amsterdam ferries since 10 August 2026. GVB is exploring whether some IJ connections could sail with one skipper per ferry instead of two, with a deckhand standing alongside. The reason is the persistent staff shortage that has dogged the operator all summer. Criticism from inside the company is fierce: the works council calls the plan irresponsible and skippers are worried about safety. For commuters between the city centre and Amsterdam Noord the story matters, because the outcome will decide how many sailings GVB can keep running in the months ahead.

Why GVB is looking at one skipper per ferry

The immediate trigger for the trial is a shortage that has become structural. Operations director Ramon Rippens put the current gap at "around ten skippers", which in his words makes it challenging to run every scheduled sailing. That matches earlier reporting on the skipper shortage, in which GVB spoke of roughly 33 unfilled vacancies and further departures expected through retirement. During the Pride weekend in early August the roster was only just filled, Rippens said, something we covered in our article on fewer ferries during Pride 2026. With one skipper per ferry, the same scarce capacity could be spread across more sailings, and that is precisely the calculation GVB is now making.

What the trial would actually look like

Under the proposed model, a ferry on a limited number of routes would sail with one skipper instead of two. A deckhand would stand alongside that skipper so that, according to GVB, the so-called four-eyes principle is preserved: two pairs of eyes are always watching during manoeuvring and mooring. Rippens told AT5 emphatically that safety is the hard precondition: "We will not compromise on safety. We will do it, provided it is safe." Which connections would be involved has not been made public; earlier reporting referred to quiet routes, where passenger numbers per sailing are lower than on the busy lines from Centraal Station. GVB explicitly says it wants this to remain a trial, because the company itself regards a crew of two skippers as the ideal situation.

Works council and skippers dig in

Resistance inside the company is substantial and goes well beyond isolated grumbling. The works council calls the plan irresponsible and is setting strict conditions on any trial, while skippers are discussing strike action among themselves if the model goes ahead. One employee, speaking anonymously, put it this way: "My biggest concern is safety, it is highly irresponsible. We are in a WhatsApp group with 80 people, and there is nobody saying 'I am in favour'." Another skipper acknowledged that something has to change, but objected above all to the way it was handled: everyone gave a negative recommendation and yet the decision came out positive. That criticism builds on the concerns that surfaced in late July, which we summarised in our overview of the GVB measures against the skipper shortage.

Training as the longer-term bottleneck

Behind the crewing debate sits a more structural problem: it simply takes a long time to train a ferry skipper. GVB is therefore in talks with Rijkswaterstaat and central government about shortening the training path, which the operator says currently takes four years. Like other inland skippers, ferry skippers need a full boatmaster's licence, even though they sail the same few hundred metres across the IJ every day. A tailored route could speed up the inflow of new staff, but such a change sits with the ministry and takes time, so it offers no relief for this autumn's rosters. The same training question also plays into the arrival of new electric ferries and the wider electric ferry tender, which will demand extra qualified crew of their own.

What this means for your crossing

For passengers nothing has changed in the timetable yet, because the trial has not been introduced and talks are still under way. Since 10 August 2026 the ferries have been running to the normal timetable again, as we described in our article on the end of the summer timetable, but that normal timetable actually requires more crew than the summer version. As long as the shortage of around ten skippers persists, occasional cancellations remain possible at busy times, especially during the morning and evening peaks. If the dispute escalates into industrial action or strikes, the impact on the IJ connections could be larger than with ordinary staff absence, because several lines could be hit at once. Anyone crossing regularly to NDSM or Buiksloterweg would do well to keep following the coverage over the coming weeks.

How to stay informed

The best buffer against surprises remains a quick check just before you walk to the stop. You can see live departure times via the ferry hub or one of the ferry apps, which show within seconds whether your connection is running normally. Background on passenger numbers and the pressure on the network is in our ferry statistics, which show how sharply demand from Noord has grown in recent years. All news about the Amsterdam ferries is collected on the news index, including updates on crewing, timetables and engineering works. That way you spot an adjusted timetable sooner and can switch to metro, bus or bike in time.

Pont is an independent travel-information source and not an official GVB product. We summarise public reporting, in this case coverage by AT5 and Schuttevaer of the proposed trial, so you can quickly judge whether your crossing may be affected. At the time of writing the trial has not been introduced and talks between GVB and the works council are still ongoing, so the situation may change. The figures and quotes mentioned are a snapshot and may be revised by GVB or the city. When in doubt, always check GVB's current departure times and service information before you leave.