Radio Noordzee
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Radio Noordzee [1] broadcast from REM Island, a structure built in the Republic of Ireland and towed to a position off the Dutch coastline in 1964 to serve as the pirate broadcasting home of Radio Noordzee. REM Island broadcasts were taken off air in 1964 by a sea and air raid by the armed forces of The Netherlands.
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[edit] Construction
The artificial island was built in Cork, Ireland. It was towed and anchored in cement on the seabed. On 12 August 1964 a test broadcast was performed and on 15 August 1964 Radio Noordzee started regular broadcasting.
[edit] Broadcasts
In 1964, commercial radio broadcasts to the Netherlands were made by Radio Noordzee from the REM platform. The REM broadcast Radio Noordzee to the Netherlands from 6 miles from the coast near Noordwijk in the Netherlands.
[edit] Government interference
The adventure did not last long. The Dutch authorities were unhappy with the unexpected competition from the sea, but they could not prevent the broadcasts starting.
Radio Noordzee was outside territorial waters, and out of reach of Dutch law. On 12 December 1964, four months after the start, the Dutch government passed a new emergency law. The so-called REM law split the North Sea into continental sections. The sea bed under REM Island, to which the structure was physically attached, was declared Dutch territory. Five days later, Royal Marines boarded the platform and ended the transmissions.
A year later Radio Noordzee resumed transmissions as a public broadcaster under the name TROS.
[edit] R E M
REM stands for "Reclame Explotatie Maatschappij" (roughly, Advertising Exploitation Company). The company intended to broadcast commercial radio and television. Dutch law did not authorize such broadcasts, but the artificial island was positioned just outside the territorial waters (6 miles from the coast). Most off-shore radio stations used a ship (such as Radio Veronica). The company was founded in 1963 with regular land based studios and offices, at De Hofstede in Naarden, near Bussum, The Netherlands, only the broadcasting was from the sea.
