Amsterdam - The mother of a Dutch teenager planning to undertake a two-year solo sailing voyage around the world has told a court she opposes her daughter's plans, the daily Volkskrant reported on Tuesday. Babs Mueller reportedly told the civil youth court in Utrecht on Monday that if it were up to her, she would not permit her daughter, Laura Dekker, to sail off "under the present circumstances".
On September 5, Mueller, who divorced Dekker's father in 2002, first told Volkskrant in an exclusive interview she opposed her daughter's plans.
The court in Utrecht discussed the psychological evaluation the judge had commissioned on August 28 to determine whether the 14-year- old Dekker would be capable of undertaking the two-year voyage.
At the hearing, Dekker announced she had postponed her plans until June, because the Autumn weather would not be suitable to embark on her trip.
Child Protection Services argued that the girl should remain under state custody that the court had imposed two months ago upon its request, referring to the results of the last psychological evaluation.
Dekker's attorney Peter de Lange argued there was insufficient reason to extend the state custody measure.
"The law says state custody should only be imposed in case of 'serious danger'. This is not the case here," he said.
In the court-ordered evaluation, the psychologist allegedly raised his concern about the teenager's development, describing Dekker as "somewhat lacking emotions".
On Friday, the court is to decide about the temporary custody measure as well as the girl's sailing plans.
Dekker's case came to light when the girl's father formally requested local authorities in the summer to permit Laura to miss school for two years so she could undertake the voyage.
When permission was denied and the father announced he would still support his daughter's plans to sail solo around the world, youth protection services launched an investigation and eventually filed a suit in an emergency procedure.
Since their parents divorced in 2002, Laura has been living with her father in the village of Maurik in the central Netherlands while her sister lives with her German-born mother in Friesland in the northern Netherlands.
De Lange told journalists that since the last hearing in August, tens of television and film producers as well as book publishers have requested the girl's permission to follow her voyage on a continuous basis for a reality show, film, documentary or book.
