New Terneuzen Lock: commercial trial voyage with wider ship to ArcelorMittal

The New Lock in Terneuzen has been operational since 1 August 2025. Now a new phase has begun: on Monday 29 December, a commercial trial voyage with a wider seagoing vessel took place on the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, to ArcelorMittal in Ghent. This trial voyage is an important step in the further optimisation of North Sea Port's nautical accessibility. 

It was the ship PIAVIA, with a width of 38,04 metres – one metre more than the current permitted ship size on the Canal – and a length of 229,20 metres, that sailed through the New Lock in North Sea Port on Monday 29 December. 

The preparations for this trial voyage have been thorough and intensive. Over the past two years, the Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission (VNSC), together with North Sea Port, the Joint Nautical Management (GNB) and the Flemish and Dutch Pilotage Authorities, has carried out extensive studies. These included nautical simulations of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, in which pilots virtually steered the ship in a simulated environment with realistic conditions such as wind, water levels and bottom profiles. The impact on tow forces was also investigated. 

Annick De Ridder, Flemish Minister for Mobility, Public Works, Ports and Sport: ‘This trial voyage demonstrates how important investments in our ports are for a strong economy. By bringing larger and wider ships to our industry more smoothly, we are making transport more efficient and cheaper. In this way, we are strengthening the international position of our ports, giving our companies more clout and ensuring that industry and jobs can continue to grow here.’ 

The aim of the trial voyage is to put theory into practice and see how it works. Cas König, CEO of North Sea Port: ‘This provides valuable insights into the practical feasibility of wider and longer ships on the Channel and contributes to the development of our future-oriented infrastructure in the port.’ 

The ship's final destination was ArcelorMittal Belgium in Ghent. ‘The ship has commercial cargo on board that will be unloaded at our quay,’ said Frederik Van De Velde, CEO of the ArcelorMittal Belgium steelworks. ‘This allows us to test how a larger, wider ship can sail up to our quay and what this means for our people on shore. The more cargo we can transport in one go, the more sustainable and cost-effective our steel production is.’ 

The New Lock has been built to accommodate the large ships that can sail through the Panama Canal. Thanks to the New Lock, these larger and wider ships will be able to sail on the Canal towards Terneuzen and Ghent in the future, which will strengthen North Sea Port's international accessibility. North Sea Port therefore wants to further optimise the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal to give larger ships efficient access to the hinterland. This first trial voyage is an important step in this direction.  

‘As the North Sea Port authority, we make no secret of the fact that we would very much like to see a deeper canal with a draught of 14.5 metres for ships, extending to the Bulk Port in Terneuzen,’ says Cas König, CEO of North Sea Port. This is about two kilometres beyond the lock and is technically feasible to deepen in the short term. This would mean that seagoing vessels would no longer have to lighten part of their cargo on the Westerschelde in order to sail into the Channel via the New Lock. Unloading could then be carried out more safely and cheaply at this bulk cargo port. ‘The port authority is also looking forward to sailing 43-metre-wide ships from the New Lock to the Kluizendok and Rodenhuizedok in Ghent.’ For a single ship transporting dry or liquid bulk, this quickly adds up to cost savings of several hundred thousand euros. 

This ambition of North Sea Port has already been confirmed by the Netherlands and Flanders. ‘The New Lock in Terneuzen also makes the accessibility of the ports of North Sea Port ready for the future. In the coming years, Flanders and the Netherlands will discuss in the Flemish-Dutch Scheldt Commission how they can improve the nautical accessibility of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal for larger ships, so that the opportunities for shipping created by the lock can be maximised,’ was the message on 1 April 2025 at the Flemish-Dutch Summit in Ghent.