In April of 2009, the first ultra-large container ship (ULCS) called at the Port of Antwerp: a massive crowd came to the Scheldt River to witness the lock entrance manoeuvres of the MSC Beatrice, the second largest container ship in the world at 51 metres wide and 366 metres long - nearly as long as the Empire State Building is tall.

Since then, these 14,000-container capacity ships have been passing through the world's biggest lock on a weekly basis, adding up to about 80 ships so far. Since August, arrivals have doubled, serving both the Lion (Far East) and Silk (Middle- and Far East) branches of the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

MSC has decided to concentrate its operations at Antwerp's Delwaide dock, offering a total quay length of 2.9 kilometres - the biggest terminal in the Port of Antwerp and employer of some 800 dockworkers. To facilitate the berthing of the ULCS ships, the south side quay was equipped with special heavy-duty fenders.

The first seven arrivals of ULCS ships in 2009 were trials to monitor the docking process. "Attracting these ships was crucial for us, and the Antwerp branch has made huge efforts here," says Glenn Godecharle, chief water clerk with MSC Belgium. "In times of crisis with freight rates dropping, we managed to persuade the Geneva headquarters of the necessity of this traffic, which is a good thing for the Antwerp port."

Constantly aware of the nearby competition of other major seaports - especially Rotterdam - Godecharle applauds the cooperation and support of both the commercial and operational services of the Antwerp Port Authority, the permanent commission of joint nautical authorities and the pilot services and tugboat companies, both on the Scheldt and in the docks. "Within the restrictions of nautical regulations, we enjoy the best possible collaboration," he says.

For the Scheldt pilot services, the ULCS project was initiated about a year before the arrival of the MSC Beatrice, with simulation sessions and exercises at the Flanders Hydraulics Research Centre.

All partners involved in the ULCS project agreed upon an action plan for the navigation of these giant ships on the Scheldt River. "Maximum six BFT wind force, daylight conditions, 2,000 metres visibility and three river pilots, plus a full satellite navigation system," Captain Geert De Vriese ticks off his fingers. De Vriese is a senior river pilot with 20 years of experience. "These criteria have been gradually scaled down over the last 12 months, but navigating such a long ship concerns the whole crew - a matter of extreme teamwork."

Working in close collaboration with the shipping company, the river pilots put marks on the bridge of the ships to facilitate the positioning of antennas of the SNMS - the Scheldt River navigation system for ultra-large vessels. "Then our pilots save time once they've boarded a ULCS ship at Flushing roads," explains Tony Verresen, Director of Flemish Pilotage in Antwerp. "The SNMS system is a highly-accurate portable pilot unit, allowing these ships to navigate with only one-metre leeway."

Navigating long and wide vessels requires maximum concentration: today, only two river pilots are on the 50-metre-wide bridge: the first manoeuvring the ship, the second operating the SNMS system, both working in close cooperation to monitor the vessel's progress and all other traffic on the river. "We have indeed evolved to a situation where navigation is based on high-tech instruments - without them these big ships would not enter the locks," says Captain Eric Poirier, Head of the nautical department of the Flemish Pilotage.

"Continuously double-checking with your own eyes remains the message," adds De Vriese. "And the view from the bridge is fantastic. The bridge is as high as the mast of a tall sailing ship - passing Terneuzen [in south-western Netherlands], I can see the city of Ghent."

On the other hand, visibility can often be poor on the Scheldt. "I navigated such a 366-metre ship when sudden fog patches near Bath deteriorated the visibility down to 500 metres," says De Vriese. "I expected some problems for the lock-entry manoeuvre, but we had the equipment to help us out."

John Blommaert, meanwhile, is a pilot specially trained to guide large container vessels between the Berendrecht lock - the largest lock in the world - and the MSC home terminal berth. With 20 years of experience, he works for BRABO, the harbour pilots and boatmen's association. Blommaert has taken 14 ULCS vessels through this course.

"The big challenge is the immense inertia of such a ship," he explains. "Once it's moving, it is very difficult to stop that movement - they measure 10% longer than the 330-metre vessels, but their inertia may well be 60 to 70% more."

Piloting a ULCS vessel remains a challenge for Blommaert, especially now that some of the initial safety measures have been downgraded. "One year ago, during the trial period, an ULCS ship was obliged to take four harbour tugs and two pilots," he says. "All traffic in the vicinity was suspended, a police boat accompanied the convoy and it was done in daylight. Today, these big container giants sail at night time, with just two harbour tug boats and no traffic restrictions at all."

Contrary to the situation on the Scheldt River, where ULCS ships are monitored by Traffic Centre Zandvliet via radar, navigation in the docks is purely a matter of ship-to-ship communication. "There's no similar traffic regulator for the docks," continues Blommaert.

Navigating the newest generation of ULCS vessels requires continuous upgrading. BRABO has installed its own virtual simulator for training purposes. "The simulator also runs the ULCS software and allows you to carry out extreme manoeuvres - a good test to learn what things not to do on board," Blommaert laughs.

Bigger and bigger
It's the constant enlargement of container ships that makes the deepening of the Scheldt such a hot topic. The details of the dredging work, a joint project between Belgium and the Netherlands, was finally agreed to in 2005 after nearly 20 years of debate, but the Dutch government (whose Rotterdam port would not see the same benefit as Antwerp) keeps finding reasons to delay.

"Some shipyards are planning to build 16,000 TEU vessels," says Godecharle, referring to the units used to measure how many shipping containers can be held in one ship (TEU).

"The port infrastructure should be upgraded accordingly." In order for Antwerp to remain "among the leading seaports," he says, deepening is essential. "The investment in four new and powerful harbour tugboats and the further deepening of the Scheldt certainly marks the commitment for the future."

"the deepening of the Scheldt gives the port of Antwerp the opportunity to defend its position as the second-largest port in Europe," says Marc van Peel, port alderman and president of the Antwerp Port Authority. "The number of +10,000 TEU ships already arriving at Antwerp with the deepening only half-way proves the importance of a better nautical access to the heart of Europe."

But the deepening of the Scheldt is only one of the two issues the city faces: the other is getting increasing truck traffic to and from the port. Every container is full of goods to drive somewhere, and more containers means more traffic. This problem finally looks to be solved by a tunnel connecting the city's ring road (see companion story).

A lack of marketing
Although crowds gather when news of big ship coming in spreads, the Port of Antwerp itself seems somewhat reticent to boast about the potential tourist attraction of both the world's biggest lock and the largest ships in the world arriving in Antwerp twice a week.

Examples are cited like the Seaway in Canada, Germany's Kiel canal or even the Terneuzen lock ("Welcome to Terneuzen, Flanders' Portal"). This backs up many peeople's conviction that Antwerp should try to capitalise on the port as an attraction - a port visitor centre, grandstands near the Berendrecht lock, boards displaying information and arrival times of big ships.

Perhaps they are getting the message: the Antwerp Port Authority's press officer commented that vantage points and information displays will soon be installed near port infrastructure, like the Berendrecht lock.

Check the website of Mediterranean Shipping Co for arrival times of big ships at the Port of Antwerp

www.mscbelgium.com