The Frisian city of Harlingen is investing €40,000 in a pilot scheme to restore the so-called “brown fleet” of around 400 traditional wooden sailing boats.

Owners will be able to use the money to carry out safety checks or strengthen rotting masts and beams on the ships, some of which are centuries old.

The romantic image of the brown fleet has been tainted in recent years by two fatal accidents, including the death of a 13-year-old girl during a school trip. She died from injuries she sustained when a boom broke and landed on top of her.

In 2019 the Dutch safety board (OVV) said rotting timbers posed a high risk on board the ships after a mast broke and fell on top of a dock worker in Zaandam.

Just over a year ago the then transport minister, Mark Harbers, ordered all the ships to be inspected to highlight critical maintenance issues.

The local council in Harlingen set up the pilot scheme to improve safety on board and encourage owners to carry out running repairs to keep their vessels shipshape.

“We have already taken some good steps in the direction of safety, but it could be better,” VVD alderman Paul Schoute told Omrop Fryslân.

“For example, you can scan masts with something similar to an X-ray, but you can’t go round every single boat. For that we need a service station where the equipment could be installed so that ships can have their masts scanned regularly.”