At the crossroads of waterways
Ghent is at the crossroads of the inland waterways in Flanders. The Port of Ghent is the gateway to the Seine Nord connection with Paris. In addition, the port offers a good connection to the Rhein/Danube network and all inland waterway destinations in Europe are easily reachable.
Thanks to a fast sea lock for large ro-ro and panamax ships, the seaport in Ghent is the favored location for big industrial groups from the steel, car assembly, paper production and chemical industries, and the food and energy sectors.
Second most important port in Belgium
Ghent is the second most important port in Belgium, with the annual transport of approximately 43 million ton of goods via its waters. Ships with LOA up to 265m and a depth of up to 12.5m have access to the sea lock and the whole Port of Ghent, without any restrictions. Bulk goods and containers can be swiftly loaded and unloaded. The port has a number of loading mechanisms for the lifting and transfer of cargo. Additionally, there are several local shipping agents, transport companies, distributors, warehouse companies, cargo inspectors and insurance companies operating in the port.
Large enough to cope, small enough to care
The Port of Ghent is reputed for handling grain, coal, fruit juice, cars, chemicals, steel-, wood- and oil products and construction materials. In the near future ecological fuel and containers will also be coming to the port. The soon-to-be constructed ShortSea Container Terminal with a capacity of 300,000 TEU, which is part of a European network, will put the Port of Ghent on the European container map. An IMDG code and a Veterinary Border Inspection Post, will make possible the handling of dangerous goods and food products from outside the European union.
The well-known slogan "Large enough to cope, small enough to care" sums up the Port of Ghent perfectly. The port does not suffer the same congestion problems as many of the big European ports. The R4 ring road around the port area, allowing a speedy connection to the different main European routes, is another of the port's plus-points.
Room for expansion
There remains room for expansion in the Port of Ghent region. Between 2008 and 2010, 300 ha of new land for logistics and industry will become available in the direct vicinity of the current 200 ha area around the new Kluizen dock, which is ready to be built upon. The Kluizen dock comprises a 6km-long wharf, a multi-user container terminal, a shunt station and several industry plots both connected and not connected to the water.
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