The Port of Brussels (french: Port de Bruxelles, nl, Haven van Brussel) is an

inland port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers pub ...

at a distance of 120 km from the sea. It is accessible for ships up to 4,500 tonnes and push towing convoys up to 9,000 tonnes. Via the

Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal The Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal (commonly named in various ways including Willebroek Canal and Brussels-Willebroek canal), is a canal in Belgium linking Brussels with the Scheldt river and ultimately the sea. The 28 km long canal has ...

even sea-going vessels (fluviomaritime and coasters) can reach the outer port, and through the

Brussels–Charleroi Canal The Brussels–Charleroi Canal, also known as the Charleroi Canal amongst other similar names, (french: canal Bruxelles-Charleroi, nl, kanaal Brussel-Charleroi) is an important canal in Belgium. The canal is quite large, with a Class IV Frey ...

the transit to

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—al ...

is assured. The port is located in the

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Fl ...

in the

Brussels-Capital Region Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. On the limited surface area (64 ha) there are approximately 300 companies, which account for about 13,000 jobs.

History

The current Port of Brussels that lies north from the actual city centre finds its origin in the construction of the Willebroek Canal, which was opened in 1561 for shipping. Over the years, within the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, different docks were excavated, which only were muted by the end of the 19th century because they then had by then became insufficient, and the port company located outside the

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be sim ...

began to develop. The street names along the former docks, however, still retain in their names the memory of their former function, so the location remains recognisable even today. There were six docks in total, three docks at the Rivage Gate where the channel entered the city walls, that were aligned in longitudinal direction, and on each of them another dock followed in transverse direction: * Grand Bassin and Bassin du Chantier (Dutch: Groot Dok and Werfdok) * Bassin des Barques and Bassin de l'Entrepôt (Dutch: Schuitendok and Stapelhuisdok) * Bassin des Marchands and Bassin de Saint-Cathérine (Dutch: Koopliedendok and Sint-Katelijnedok)

General information

The Port of Brussels was founded in 1993, as a result of the splitting of the N.V. Zeekanaal in a Flemish and a Brussels institution, five years after the authority over the ports in Belgium was transferred to the regions. The new autonomy in 1993 immediately led to new dynamism and growth in the results. In the twenty years prior, the traffic of 14.4 million tonnes in 1974 had shrunk to less than a third. Since 1993, the traffic has increased by 60% again. In the port, more than 24 million tonnes of goods are traded yearly, most via railway and road

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

, and over 6.6 million tonnes via the

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary ...

transit (as of 2016). The main shareholders are the

(56%) and the

(35%). Together with the Brussels-based investment company Brinfin (3.9%) and some other municipalities (5.1%) they indicate the members of the Board of Directors. The first Director General was

Steven Vanackere Steven Vanackere, (, born on 4 February 1964 in Wevelgem) is a Belgian politician from Flanders and member of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party (CD&V). He held the portfolios of Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Foreign Aff ...

(1993–2000). Nowadays, Mohammed Jabour is the chairman of the Board of Directors, and Alfred Moens the General Manager. The current competent minister is

Rudi Vervoort Rudi Vervoort (born 20 November 1958) is a Brussels politician. He is the mayor of Evere since 1998 and member of the Brussels Parliament. He became the Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region on 7 May 2013 and is responsible for Local A ...

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

of the Brussels-Capital Region.

External links

Port of Brussels

History

General information

External links

See also

References

Further reading