The range of regular departures to a huge number of destinations is an important advantage of Antwerp. With more than 300 liner services to over 800 destinations Antwerp is able to offer fast, reliable connections with ports all over the world.

The number of seagoing ships calling at the port of Antwerp totalled 16,689 in 2007 (up 5.8% on the previous year), while the gross tonnage increased once more, by 8.9%. The average size of ships also rose sharply, to 17,306 GRT.

Antwerp lies on the river Scheldt, and as a port it is dependent on the river. In order to ensure navigability and keep up with the latest developments in shipping, Flanders and the Netherlands signed the Scheldt Treaty in 2005, opening the way to further deepening of the Western Scheldt.

The first treaty deals with implementation of the 2010 Development Sketch, making improvements to flood safety, accessibility of the Scheldt ports and nature conservation in the Scheldt estuary.

The deepening of the Scheldt, which the port of Antwerp insisted on so strongly, forms part of this treaty. However, it will not be necessary to dredge the entire river, as the navigation channel is already deep enough at most points. All that is required is to eliminate a few shallower places or “thresholds.” At these points the channel will be deepened by 1.4 metres. There are eleven such thresholds in all, two of them on Flemish territory and nine on Dutch territory.

The dredging work started in 2007 and should be completed by the end of 2009. The Scheldt permits tide-independent navigation for ships with drafts of up to 43 ft. (average lowest low tide). The dredging work will widen the time windows, enabling ships with a draft of more than 49 ft. 2 ½ in. to reach the port more quickly.