Shipping

When the Dutch king William I took the reins of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815, a merger of Belgium and the Netherlands, he began constructing canals.

A more than 100-year-old port crane waltzed around Antwerp's port docks until early this century.

In 1951, the Hydraulic Laboratory De Voorst settled in the Dutch Noordoostpolder. There, scientists had a constant supply and drainage of water to test out scale models for hydraulic works.

In 1900, shipbuilder Euskalduna settled in the old docks of Bilbao, Spain. Thanks to World War I, the shipyard underwent massive expansion.

Pont de l'Origine is one of the drawbridges along the old canal between Brussels and Charleroi. 

In both Seneffe and Arquennes, traffic was guided over the Brussels-Charleroi Canal via a swing bridge.

The Wiedauwkaai bridge over the canal-Terneuzen is a swing bridge that allows passenger traffic over the railway line between Ghent and Eeklo and freight transport towards the Kluizendok.

Today, three historic shipyards along the Scheldt in Baasrode host the Provincial Heritage Site Shipyards Baasrode. The vast industrial heritage site tells the story of the rise and fall of shipbuilders along the Scheldt.

A stone's throw from the Torre de Belém in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, you'll pass this historic harbour crane.

The Belgian city of Bruges developed into an economic powerhouse from the 11th century onwards, thanks to its Medieval Flemish cloth industry and its international port.