Operator WeBarge has called at the port of Brussels for the first time from Zeebrugge with its estuary vessel ‘Amberes’. This happened in the aftermath of the oil spill in the Deurganck dock, which caused ocean-going vessels to divert to Zeebrugge.
With the ‘Amberes’ and the ‘Euroports’, WeBarge has two estuary ships. “A third estuary vessel, the ‘Seaford’, is under construction and will be launched in November,” said Olivier De Smedt, CEO of WeBarge.
Deurganck dock
After the pollution in the Deurganckdok, a number of ocean-going vessels diverted to CSP’s terminal in the port of Zeebrugge. “That incident made us look at how we could get our own containers to their destination without depending on third parties. With our estuary ships, we created the possibilities of picking up our own containers. The ‘Amberes’ is now the first to sail from Zeebrugge to the container terminal at the port of Brussels. A second ship will follow next week,” says De Smedt.
Other terminals
Whether any more ships follow after that, he says, depends on the shipping companies. “If they decide to sail to Zeebrugge, we will pick up our containers there. From Zeebrugge, we also sail to our other container terminals along the Zeekanaal and Albert Canal. We are also already getting requests to sail to Liège,” De Smedt concludes.
