MSC LORENA finally in Antwerp

News 30 Dec 2022 by WCN Editorial

The ship that was diverted to waters off Vlissingen because of a bomb scare on 22 December has been allowed to proceed

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The ship was released by the Belgian authorities on Thursday, 29December in the early afternoon and sailed to Antwerp and arrived there in the evening. For the short trip from its Dutch anchorage off Vlissingen to Antwerp, the ship had its AIS (Automated Identification System) shut off. As a further precaution, the reception berth in Antwerp was not disclosed, even though the ship could be seen from both banks of the River Scheldt during its entire approach leg.

Prior to the release of the vessel, Belgian authorities said that the telephone bomb threat on 22 December was “false.” Investigations by Belgian and Dutch official bodies are said to have focused mainly on identifying the call and the caller, but Belgian bomb disposal staff boarded the ship prior to its release. Naturally, the police and other agencies are tight-lipped about what they have been able to ascertain.

Certainly, as of 28 December, no physical inspections had been carried out on board. It would be impossible to scan most of the containers on board in any case, but parts of the vessel itself may have been subject to checks.