Every one working in the Port of Ostend is confident that renewable energy is the future. The port community is banking on the offshore wind sector as the promising alternative to the declining ferry market. “It does not mean that the port is likely to neglect ferries, but it is evident that after 160 years the ferry business is under pressure. Now the Port of Ostend has to focus on a promising niche market.”

Port of Ostend Managing Director Paul Gerard is aware of critics including the current port users, they were in doubt of the profitability of offshore wind energy, but now they have apparently become speechless since more and more businesses are following the port’s strategic choice to become a hub for renewable energy. The projects under construction on the Belgian continental shelf are evidence of the potential capacity of the country’s offshore wind energy. The Port of Ostend can only win from this situation.