Global General

Dutch child care wants to keep control of sailor

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-20 22:49

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Child care authorities asked a Dutch court Tuesday to extend their guardianship over 14-year-old sailor Laura Dekker for another year, a move that would further delay her plan to sail solo around the world.

In this Monday, Dec. 21, 2009 file photo Laura Dekker arrives to board a flight at the Princess Juliana International Airport on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. [Agencies]

The application was made at a closed-door hearing in the southern Dutch city of Middelburg. A ruling is scheduled for July 27.

Dekker's lawyer Peter de Lange did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

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Dekker was made a ward of the state last year after her plan to try to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world raised concerns over her physical ability and her social development. Both her parents, who are divorced, back the plan.

Dekker was born on a yacht in New Zealand waters while her parents were sailing around the world and holds a New Zealand passport.

Richard Bakker, a spokesman for the Council for Child Care, said authorities hoped to end uncertainty for Dekker by applying for a year extension rather than repeatedly asking for one-month extensions.

At a hearing last month, when the guardianship was prolonged by a month, De Lange said Dekker was working to meet 14 conditions imposed by the court nine months ago before it would let her set sail.

She has obtained a first aid diploma, practiced functioning while sleep-deprived and arranged to follow schoolwork via Internet, he said.

Last month, she sailed solo to England and back - 22 hours each way - to show her command of her small yacht and its seaworthiness.

However, child care authorities are still concerned about the 14-year-old's ability to handle the perils of a round-the-globe voyage on her own.

"Our focus is not is she able to sail, because she can sail," Bakker said. "Our focus is her social and physical development, that is our concern."

The dangers facing Dekker were underscored last month when a 16-year-old California girl, Abby Sunderland, had to be rescued from her solo round-the-world trip after powerful waves snapped her mast in the Indian Ocean.

Sunderland was rescued two days after the alarm was raised, in a costly mission by the Australian military who spotted her thousands of miles from the nearest land.