Barging in Belgium

I'm just back from a few days in Ghent, Belgium. The main purpose of the visit was to have a look at the bus and tram networks there and in nearby Antwerp, including some of these monsters that can carry 386 passengers (although only 56 get a seat)!

But there was also time to visit the canals, both in Ghent and in Antwerp and catch some of the thriving commercial traffic  - a reminder of what English waterways such as the Thames, Severn and Aire & Calder could be like if this country could develop sensible transport policies.

In Ghent, I took a number 1 tram (like the one in the photo above) out to the village of Evergem to walk along a section of the Ringvaart, which as the name suggests is a sort of waterway ring-road that allows modern commercial traffic to by-pass the older and smaller canals in the city centre, most of which are now used by leisure and residential boaters.  Here are a few images of what I saw:

Most Belgian barges carry a car on board. This captain was unloading his
on to the public highway using a hand-held remote control.

 On the Friday, most of the bus and tram drivers in Ghent went on strike, giving me a crash-course in the local language. . .

so that I now know the Flemish for "No trams today, the lads are on strike!" (vakbondsactie = trade union action). Instead I took myself off to Antwerp on the train. The lads were on strike there too, but it wasn't far to walk out to the Albert Canal, near to where it enters the Port of Antwerp for some more "barge spotting"

Hardly a "barge" - in reality a massive push-tow. And note: this one has two cars aboard (his and hers?).

This one's a bit more traditional, but compare the living accommodation to an English narrowboat's back cabin! (There's more floorspace there than in my house!)

Just like in Ghent, the Albert Canal was very busy with boats passing and re-passing throughout the thirty minutes or so I was there.

Locating the boats was made easy by a new app I bought recently (warning: commercial break follows).

Marine Traffic is intended for keeping track of coastal and deep sea shipping, but having bought it (free advert-infested version also available) I was surprised to see that a lot of European inland shipping was included. (In the UK the occasional movement on the Manchester Ship Canal also shows up). This screenshot shows the situation on the Ringvaart in Ghent this afternoon. The circles represent moored craft and the arrows are moving boats. Clicking on a circle or arrow brings up a picture of the vessel and details of the voyage it is making.  

Fascinating stuff!  If only there was a version for narrowboats on the English canals!