News

Jeroen Verwilligen and Steve Claes, had the opportunity to take part in the first transit of the Canal Ghent-Terneuzen by a 38m wide, deep-drafted ship .

Since 2017, Flanders Hydraulics has collaborated with De Vlaamse Waterweg, the Flemish Agency for Nature and Forests, and Regionaal Landschap Schelde-Durme in the LIFE Sparc project. This European initiative accelerated the development of eight Sigma Plan areas into climate buffers, creating 428 hectares of freshwater tidal nature.

After three days of inspiring presentations, knowledge sharing, and in-depth discussions on challenges and solutions, MASHCON 2025 has come to an end.

More than 35 papers are expected to be presented the 7th MASHCON conference, which will be held from 18 to 21 May 2025 in Bruges, Belgium. The MASHCON conferences offer researchers and experts the possibility to discuss the latest developments in research and practice related to ship manoeuvring in shallow and confined water.

Flanders Hydraulics (FH) unveiled its new, larger and modern wave flume on Tuesday 12 November. This is a research installation designed to simulate complex wave and water movements in a controlled environment. The festive inauguration took place at the FH headquarters in Antwerp.

A call for abstracts has now been launched for the 7th MASHCON conference, which will be held from 18 to 21 May 2025 in Bruges, Belgium. The MASHCON conferences offer researchers and experts the possibility to discuss the latest developments in research and practice related to ship manoeuvring in shallow and confined water.

Since its establishment in 1933, the focus of Flanders Hydraulics has been on serving Flemish (government) clients, such as waterway authorities and ports. However, the current management’s ambition is to become a leading international research institution and to offer its pioneering knowledge to the international market.

DDSHIP (Data-driven Smart Shipping) aims at solving bottlenecks in the maritime and inland logistic network. Along with other smart shipping projects, DDShip will be presented at the Smart Port Week, which is held in The Beacon, Antwerp on 11 June.

As part of its 90th anniversary, Flanders Hydraulics will show its facilities to a professional audience. The facilities and instruments that can be used for the benefit of private parties will be explained and illustrated with some study and research projects. There will be plenty of room for interaction and networking during the event.

Check out the October issue of The Naval Architect, which has a feature on the Towing Tank for Manoeuvres in Shallow Water. The article also gives an overview of the activities of the Knowledge Centre.

ZULU Associates and Flanders Hydraulics have signed an agreement to investigate and validate the energy efficiency of the X-Barge in confined and shallow waters. This study is necessary to optimize the hull shape of the X-Barge, especially in the European canals and rivers, and at low water levels, which helps to enable the transition of inland waterway barges to zero-emission.

Marc Mansuy won the award for Best Presentation at TransNav 2023, for his presentation of “Simulation Study to Assess the Effect of Ship Beam on the Navigable Flow Conditions in Paris”.