Overview
- Antwerp port authorities halted traffic Friday after an overnight bunkering spill, then reopened the Scheldt route to the North Sea in the early afternoon as containment advanced.
- The leak happened during refueling of the container ship MSC Denmark VI, and operator MSC confirmed the vessel’s involvement.
- Deurganck Dock remains closed for cleanup, the MSC PSA terminal and a major lock complex were affected, and the port reported 29 outbound and 25 inbound vessels waiting to pass. The port called the economic impact significant.
- Officials stopped the source and contained the ships involved, yet oil reached the Scheldt, and local media estimated a slick stretching at least three kilometers.
- Crews, including the Pieter Coecke pollution-control ship, are skimming oil and laying booms as monitors watch for harm to nearby reserves such as the Doelpolder wetlands.