REM Island is a platform built in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

and towed off the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

coast in 1964 as the pirate broadcasting home of ''Radio and TV Noordzee''. Both stations were dismantled by the

Netherlands Armed Forces The Netherlands Armed Forces () are the military, military forces of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (mainland Netherlands in Europe and islands of the Dutch Caribbean). The armed forces consist of four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Nav ...

. It was 10 km (6 miles) off

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the f ...

Construction

Radio and TV Noordzee was founded in 1963 with land-based offices and broadcast from the sea. The artificial island was built in the harbour of Cork, Ireland. It was towed to its location and anchored in cement on the seabed. On 12 August 1964, a test broadcast was performed and on 15 August regular broadcasting started. The radio service broadcast on 1400 kHz, while on television it used Channel E11 (

System B CCIR System B (originally known as the "Gerber Standard") was the 625-line VHF analog broadcast television system which at its peak was adopted by more than one hundred countries, either with PAL or SECAM colour. It is usually associated with C ...

). REM stands for ''Reclame Exploitatie Maatschappij'' ("advertising exploitation company"). The company intended to broadcast commercial radio and TV. Dutch law at the time did not authorise such broadcasts but the island was outside territorial waters. Other stations, such as

Radio Veronica Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and was on air for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands, to stimulate the sales of ra ...

, used a ship.

Raid

While Dutch authorities were unhappy with the broadcasts, they did not possess the legal right to stop them. However, on 12 December 1964, the government passed the REM law, which split the North Sea into continental sections. The sea bed under REM Island, to which the structure was attached, was therefore declared Dutch territory. Five days later, Korps Mariniers boarded the platform and ended broadcasting.

Dismantling

A year after the raid, Radio Noordzee resumed transmissions legally under the name

TROS TROS, originally an acronym for Televisie Radio Omroep Stichting ("Television Radio Broadcasting Foundation"), was a Dutch television and radio organisation part of the Dutch public broadcasting system. This broadcasting association was partic ...

. After that REM Island was used by the government to measure sea temperature and salt concentration. After a failed attempt to sell the island in 2004, the government dismantled it with a goodbye radio event by

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

enthusiasts, with the callsign '' PB6REM'' on the platform on 8 June 2006. Since March 2011, the platform sits in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

harbour where it serves as a restaurant.

Gallery

File:Rem_eiland.jpg, REM Island File:REM-eiland-Haparandadam.jpg, REM Island as an Amsterdam restaurant File:Ontmanteling van het REM-eiland voor de kust van Noordwijk (Noord Holland).jpg, Dismantling of the REM Island

References

{{coord, 52, 20, N, 4, 20, E, region:NL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Radio and TV Noordzee Radio and TV Noordzee Radio and TV Noordzee 1963 establishments in the Netherlands 1964 disestablishments in the Netherlands Artificial islands of the Netherlands Offshore radio Radio masts and towers in Europe Towers in the Netherlands Noordwijk Radio and TV Noordzee