Kiwi-born teen solo sailor in Dutch state care

AP

LAURA DEKKER: The 13-year-old had planned to sail around the world solo when she was 14.

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A Dutch court has ordered child protection authorities to be the temporary guardian of a New Zealand-born 13-year-old girl, delaying her hopes of becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The judges said Laura Dekker could continue living with her father, but would become the responsibility of the child care officials for two months while an independent child psychologist assesses her capacity to undertake the risky voyage.

The girl was not in court yesterday but her father, Dick Dekker, listened to the decision from the three judges. Neither he nor the family's lawyer made any immediate comment.

Richard Bakker, spokesman for the Council for Child Protection, welcomed the ruling.

"We are satisfied with this decision," he said, appealing to the father "to co-operate with the investigation and ensure Laura's safety".

Dekker, an experienced sailor who raised his daughter on a yacht for the first four years of her life, had supported her ambition to begin a round-the-world voyage next month.

Social workers had argued Dekker is too young to weigh up the dangers of the two-year-voyage, and psychologists said the isolation it involves would be damaging at an important time for a young girl's development.

Presiding judge M. Oostendorp said the trip was clearly risky for a girl Laura's age. "She would be confronted with difficult situations that will challenge her mentally and physically," she said.

The case in this traditional seafaring and liberal nation has attracted attention beyond Dutch borders, raising questions about how young is too young for children to set off on perilous adventures.

Dekker has requested her municipality to de-register her as a resident so that she can move to New Zealand, where she was born on a yacht, but it is understood her New Zealand passport has expired.

If she moved to New Zealand she could be refused permission to sail by Maritime New Zealand, which can stop vessels departing if the voyage might endanger the life of the sailor or likely rescuers.

Dekker had planned to start her round the world attempt on September 1, when she will be 14.

- AP