Pieter Ghysels, who has a lot of experience as a captain of large sailing ships, has owned the 130-year-old historic school ship ‘Ortelius’ since 2020. The ship’s yard is currently being built in the centre of polder village Doel.
Pieter Ghysels (PG): “The ‘Ortelius’, a steel tjalk (a sailing freighter for inland waterways, ed.), was built in 1898 in Zwartsluis in the Netherlands. As many as thousands of this type were built. It is the ideal combination of carrying capacity and volume. In 1948, the then Antwerp mayor Lode Craeybeckx bought two of these ships and donated them to the city of Antwerp, the ‘Ortelius’ and the ‘Gerlache’.”
“Both ships were then converted into training ships, one for Catholic schools and one for community education. In this way, the city wanted to introduce youth to water sports. In early 2000, subsidies ran out and the ‘Ortelius’ was put on shore and used as a donor ship for the ‘Gerlache’. The latter has since been restored and lies in the Antwerp dry dock site.”
Have you owned the former school ship ‘Ortelius’ since 2020?
PG: “The ‘Ortelius’ was located at the Steen in Antwerp until a few years ago. It had to leave there and so it was sold. Potential buyers were allowed to make a bid with a minimum amount of 15,000 euros, linked to a project description. I then offered 1 euro and after two rounds the ship was allocated to me. I also turned out to be the only interested party in the end.”
“After two years of lobbying, I received permission to transfer the ship to polder village Doel. For this I received a lot of help from crane company Mammoet and transport company Aertssen from Stabroek. The ship weighs 86 tonnes and it was a tough job to get it here on site.”
“That whole operation was quite impressive: it took five trucks just to deliver the counterweights for the cranes. We had to remove a piece of the ship to get through the Liefkenshoek tunnel. The ship is now here barely a few dozen metres from the Scheldt. Target is the ideal base for us to eventually sail from here to Zeeland, for example. It is pretty much the last little port in Belgium.”
What are the next steps now?
“The ship will remain where it is now in the Vissersstraat in Doel. We may use this piece of land from Maatschappij Linker Scheldeoever (MLSO). Our plan is to complete the restoration of the ship by 2028. The ‘Ortelius’ has been protected heritage since 2014. So we will first carefully map out what transitions the ship has undergone throughout its history.”
“Personally, I want to return it to the state of the school ship as it was in the 1940s. The ship was then equipped with 24 berths. The ship was also then equipped with a mast that could be lowered. Unfortunately, the winch and all the trestles you need to lay down that mast have been taken away. We want to have these made and reinstalled. If the Flemish government helps to restore the ship, I also want to sail to all Flemish cities in due course. That is only possible with a mast lying down.”
Why have you been so bitten by this ship?
“I graduated as an industrial designer and currently run a travel agency for trips with traditional sailing ships. Immediately after my studies, I boarded the ‘Flying Dutchman’ in Scotland. I then went to the Enkhuizer nautical college where I trained as a captain on large sailing ships. In 1994, the ‘tallships’ called at Paris and I went to see them with my father, which is where I think it started.”
“The hulls of these ships are 130 years old and have provided bread for families during all these years. I want to provide that again. Since I now have a family, I can’t and don’t want to undertake any more distant voyages. That is why I would love to use the ‘Ortelius’ again as a school ship and organise harbour trips, one-day trips or multi-day trips with Doel as the departure port. In winter, we would then like to berth in the city harbour as a sleeping ship for groups. I also think it would be great to rebuild and then maintain this ship with a group of people.”
“The caretaker who has looked after the ship for the last 50 years, Jan Van den Broeck, turns out to be my mother’s cousin. We have already contacted each other. Jan has built up a whole archive over the years containing information and stories about the ship.”
You have also started a crowdfunding campaign?
“True. Soon I also want to sit down with the Flemish government’s Heritage Department. I estimate that I need to raise around €800,000 to restore the ship. In collaboration with the King Baudouin Foundation, we have started an initial crowdfunding and hope to raise around 19,000 euros. If we reach that amount, the East Flanders Regional Fund will add another 6,000 euros.”
“With that 25,000 euro, we mainly want to invest in security. Despite many checks and a camera system, there is still a lot of vandalism in Doel. I want to make sure that when we start restoring, the ship will not be demolished again by vandals.”
“We also want to replace the ship’s windows in Atelier De Nijs, our studio a bit further down this street, repair the rain drainage, provide water pipes and build sanitary facilities. The atelier had been empty for 30 years after the demise of Doel. By rebuilding this workshop and using it to restore the ‘Ortelius’ here in the city centre, we also want to do our bit to revive Doel.”
“In the short term, we are looking for a few more partners to step into our story with us. I want to get young people excited about sailing with the ‘Ortelius’. We also want to create jobs with our project by putting young people to work during the restoration and involving them in maintenance and many other tasks afterwards. Once we sail, we can also train people to become sailors and mate for example.”
Anyone wishing to support the project or simply find out more about the restoration of the ‘Ortelius’, Atelier De Nijs or vzw ‘de Maakschappij’ can take a look here.
