Flandria tourist boats in Antwerp to be decommissioned

Flandria was begun in 1922, offering trips around the port of Antwerp on board a 1907 vessel previously used to transport milk and grain. The boat was christened Flandria, a tradition that has continued to the present day.

Over the years the service extended from pleasure trips to commuter links to Hemiksem and Hoboken. The restaurant boat La Pérouse (Flandria 16) had two Michelin stars in the 1970s. Flandria was taken over in 2014 by Studio 100, the Flemish entertainment conglomerate, which began marketing trips like the Piet Piraat Kids Cruise and the Njam! Dinner Cruise – spin-offs from the company’s other media properties.

“We got involved in this adventure with a great deal of enthusiasm, but unfortunately it’s impossible to continue,” the company said in a statement. “The success of our initiatives counts for little next to the structural losses the boats are suffering. The boats are old, maintenance is expensive, and they burn up diesel.”

Losses run into the hundreds of thousands a year, said Studio 100 CEO Hans Bourlon. “We couldn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Photo courtesy Studio 100