REM Island was a platform built in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 and towed off the Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 coast in 1964 as the pirate broadcasting

Pirate radio

Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...

 home of Radio and TV Noordzee. Both stations were dismantled by armed forces of the Netherlands. It was six miles off Noordwijk

Noordwijk

Noordwijk is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of 51.53 km² and had a population of 24,707 in May 2006....

.

Construction and foundation

Radio and TV Noordzee was founded in 1963 with land-based offices and broadcast from the sea. The artificial island was built in the harbor of Cork, Ireland

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

. It was towed to its location and anchored in cement on the seabed. On August 12, 1964 a test broadcast was performed and on August 15 regular broadcasting started. The radio service broadcast on 1400 kHz, while on television it used Channel E11 (System B).

REM stands for Reclame Exploitatie Maatschappij ("advertising exploitation company"). The company intended to broadcast commercial radio and TV. Dutch law at the time did not authorize such broadcasts but the island was outside territorial waters. Other stations, such as Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica

Radio Veronica was an offshore radio station that began broadcasting in 1960, and broadcast from offshore for over fourteen years. It was set up by independent radio, TV and household electrical retailers in the Netherlands to stimulate the sales of radio receivers by providing an alternative to...

, used a ship.

Raid

Dutch authorities were unhappy but they could not prevent the broadcasts. On December 12, 1964, the government passed the REM law, which split the North Sea into continental sections. The sea bed under REM Island, to which the structure was attached, was declared Dutch territory. Five days later, Royal Marines boarded the platform and ended broadcasting.

Later use and dismantling

A year after the raid, Radio Noordzee resumed transmissions legally under the name TROS

TROS

TROS is a Dutch television and radio organization part of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting...

. After that REM Island was used by the government to measure sea temperature and salt concentration. After a failed attempt to sell the island in 2004, the government dismantled it with a goodbye radio event by radioamateurs, with the callsign PB6REM on the platform on June 8, 2006.

External links