Amsterdam  - The parents of a Dutch teenager may see their parental rights restricted after they decided to support their daughter's plans to sail around the world on her own.

On Monday, a court in Utrecht in the central Netherlands was set to hear the case brought by the youth protection services seeking to stop the solo sailing plans of 13-year-old Laura Dekker.

They argue it would not be responsible to let her sail around the world on her own and that she would not be capable to assess the risks of the journey.

In emergency action, the youth protection services filed a court suit seeking to suspend the parent's custodial rights.

A legal custodian should be appointed, they argue, and any future decision Laura's parents take about their daughter should be made in agreement with the girl's custodian.

If the court cannot rule on the issue before September 1, when the girl aims to set sail, the youth protection services want the court to place Laura in foster care and temporarily suspend her parent's custodial rights.

Laura's journey is expected to take two years, until September 2011. Her parents said she would follow distance education using the internet and e-mail while at sea.

Dekker's parents formally requested the local authorities several months ago to permit their daughter to miss school for two years.

When permission was denied and the parents announced they would still support their daughter's plans to solo-sail around the world, youth protection services launched an investigation.

Speaking on the Dutch children's television news at the weekend, Laura said she found it "weird" that the child protection services had not contacted her during their investigation.

The girl, who was born on her parents' boat and learned to sail at a very early age, also said she was not too young to solo sail around the world.

"It depends how you are raised," she said. " I learned to be very independent."

Last week, Deputy Education Minister Marja van Bijsterveld told parliament the girl is obligated to go to school and that distance education would not be an option. (dpa)