Minister Van Quickenborne visits Ostend

On 22 June, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and the North Sea Vincent Van Quickenborne visited Ostend to get to know the local blue economy. Blue Cluster gladly put together an interesting programme in this regard, as requested by the Minister.

The first stop was a visit to the Marine Robotics Centre of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in the former Marine Station Ostend. Here, the Minister was given an explanation about the operation of the centre, which has several advanced robotics instruments and deploys them for marine research.

We then took a ferry to cross the harbour channel. During this crossing, the Minister was able to see the first Belgian unmanned vessel ‘Adhemar’ at work and thoughts were exchanged in a convivial atmosphere.

Once we reached the Ostend West Bank, we made our way towards the Royal North Sea Yacht Club. Once there, Minister Van Quickenborne changed his shoes and put on appropriate clothing to explore the port by boat.

During this trip, the Minister was introduced to the power of the waves and the sea. The trip also took the Minister out of the port of Ostend for a bit, to show him the Blue Accelerator, the offshore test platform of the Provincial Development Agency West Flanders.

Subsequently, a lunch was organised in the Royal North Sea Yacht Club with several prominent players in the blue economy. This way, the Minister was able to get to know the actors in the field better.

After the lunch, the Minister went back to Brussels to explain the new Belgian legislation regarding autonomous vessels during a webinar on autonomous shipping. This webinar was organised by Blue Cluster, among others.