REM Island

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REM Island was a platform 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 and TV Noordzee. Both of the stations were later dismantled by the armed forces of the Netherlands.

Contents 1 Location 2 Construction 3 Name 4 Raid 5 Later use and dismantling

[edit] Location

6 miles out of the coast near Noordwijk in the Netherlands.

[edit] Construction

The artificial island was built in Ireland in Cork. It was towed to its spot and anchored in cement on the seabed. On August 12th, 1964 a test broadcast was performed and on August 15th regular broadcasting was started.

[edit] Name

REM stands for "Reclame Explotatie Maatschappij" (roughly: advertising exploitation company). It was a company intended to perform commercial radio and TV broadcasting. The Dutch law did not authorize such broadcasts, but the artificial island was positioned just outside the territorial waters (6 miles out of the coast). Other pirate stations typically used a ship (such as Radio Veronica). The company was founded in 1963 and had regular, land based, offices. Only the broadcasting was done from the sea.

REM evolved into the current TROS, a legally operating station in the Netherlands.

[edit] Raid

On December 17, 1964 a raid by the Royal Dutch Navy terminated the broadcasting and the island was confiscated. This was made possible due to a law adopted on December 1st that prohibited broadcasting from structures at sea.

[edit] Later use and dismantling

After being used as a pirate broadcasting platform, it was used by the Dutch government as a measuring outpost. It measured things like sea temperature and salt concentration of the water.

After a failed attempt to sell it in 2004, the government dismantled the construction with a goodbye amateur radio event on the platform on June 8, 2006.