Noodopvang Harlingen (Nieuwe Vissershaven)
Asylum seekers have been housed on the river cruise ship River Diamond, moored at the Nieuwe Vissershaven in Harlingen, since November 2022 to relieve pressure on the national registration centre at Ter Apel. The vessel offers room for up to around 160 people; responsibility passed from the Veiligheidsregio Fryslan to the COA in mid-December 2023, and the arrangement has been extended several times. The municipality says the ship costs it no money beyond use of the quay.
Occupancy
100
people (Aug 2025)
Per night
€184
per person (benchmark)
Annual
€6.7m
estimated
Background
The site sits at Nieuwe Vissershaven, Harlingen. It is run by the COA (Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers), the Dutch government’s asylum-reception agency. For what the azc / noodopvang categories mean and how Dutch reception spending breaks down, open the cost panel on the interactive map with the Netherlands selected in Settings.
In the news
Nov 2023
Refugees longer on ship in Harlingen
The emergency reception aboard the River Diamond at the Nieuwe Vissershaven was extended for another year, with the COA taking over from the safety region in mid-December 2023. The ship houses up to around 160 refugees.
Omrop Fryslan · source
Compiled from public Dutch news reports (each item links to its source). Where a municipality runs more than one reception location, attribution to this specific address reflects the cited report and may be approximate — always check the linked source.
Timeline
Nov 2022
Asylum ship River Diamond arrives
The river cruise ship River Diamond is moored at the Nieuwe Vissershaven to house asylum seekers, helping relieve the overcrowded registration centre at Ter Apel.
Nov 2023
Reception on the ship extended
The arrangement is extended into the following year, with the COA taking over responsibility from the safety region from mid-December 2023; capacity up to around 160.
Cost
Dutch asylum reception is funded by central government through the COA. At an illustrative benchmark of about €184 per person per night for emergency reception (noodopvang), the 100 people recorded here on 13 August 2025 imply roughly €6.7m per year. This is an order-of-magnitude figure for context only, not a site-specific invoice — emergency reception typically runs around three times the cost of a regular centre.
Sources
COA / Rijksoverheid (Kamerstuk, 5 Sep 2025) · 2025-08-13. View source
Occupancy is the COA register snapshot of 13 August 2025 and may have changed since. Coordinates were geocoded from the published street address via the official PDOK Locatieserver.