Blue Innovation Village showcases the many activities at sea

Ostend at Anchor is expanding this year with a Blue Innovation Village made up of some 20 stands from companies, universities and organisations active in and around the sea. They will tell a fascinating story using videos from models to demos. While children feast their eyes or get creative, adults will learn more about the many opportunities the sea offers.

Colruyt is developing the first commercial sea farm off the Belgian coast: Sea Farm Westdiep. Not only Belgian mussels are cultivated here, research is also being carried out into the cultivation of oysters and seaweed. Colruyt is setting up a children's corner where children can tinker with shells. Here you can see oyster traps and mussel lines they work with in the sea farm.

POM West Flanders brings cartoons related to offshore activities.


University of Antwerp works around climate mitigation and adaptation, which are measures designed to limit the extent or speed of global warming. They will bring videos, posters and models and a special display for children.


Elia will bring a model of the Princess Elisabeth Island, the world's first energy island. This is effectively an electricity hub where cables from the 2nd offshore wind zone will arrive as well as from future interconnectors with other European countries, such as the UK and Denmark.

Jan De Nul Group owns a versatile and state-of-the-art fleet of dredging and offshore installation vessels. Most of them are of its own design. Many of these large vessels regularly dock in Ostend port, just think of the Vole-au-vent.

DEME is one of the largest dredging companies with global operations and is, among other things, a much sought-after partner for offshore wind farms. They present their activities.

The ILVO, the Institute of Agriculture and Fisheries Research will give a demonstration on how to fish with LED lights.

MULTI.engineering will bring a LEGO table, among other things.

At the other stands, you will get more explanations about the activities and projects of the VUB, the Hogere Zeevaartschool, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, the Flemish Institute for the Sea, Ghent University and De Blauwe Cluster. Visitors can expect demos, videos, models, ship models and a craft corner.

So be sure to drop by the Blue Innovation Village at Mercator to learn all about the many activities at sea. There will also be a search organised in the Innovation Village where you can win a great prize.

Who is The Blue Cluster?

The Blue Cluster brings together 190 companies and organisations operating in and around the North Sea. The general public may be familiar with fishing, shipping and, by now, wind turbines, yet there are many more activities at sea. These are all bundled together in The Blue Cluster. It operates in six areas: from coastal protection, renewable energy, ocean pollution and waste solutions over blue tourism, maritime connectivity and sustainable sea food to marine biotechnology. Many innovative projects have already been set up in the lap of The Blue Cluster. For instance, the possibility of offshore aquaculture has already been explored and a project on smart foundations for offshore wind turbines has been set up.