The Vlissingen-Oost terrain of Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen and Damen Naval welcomed the popular Port Days on Saturday 6 May. This year’s edition – Port Days 2023 – saw 23 different companies participate in the festive atmosphere in the so-called Port Day Village.

Children could climb a real pilot’s ladder. Children could climb a real pilot’s ladder.

The Port Days are organised by the Promotion Council North Sea Port, which represents the ports of Vlissingen, Terneuzen and Ghent. This year’s events took place on 6 and 7 May at all three ports. The Port Days are usually a biennial event, but due to the coronavirus restrictions, this was the first edition since 2018. While earlier editions of the Port Days tended to focus on finding and recruiting new personnel for companies active in these three ports, this year the participating companies had the specific aim to create a fun and memorable day out, giving visitors a unique ‘inside look’ at the activities at the ports.

The Port Day Village set up on Damen’s Vlissingen-Oost facilities included a diverse and interesting selection of activities, a few of which are highlighted below.

Mammoet
The lifting and hoisting specialist gave visitors (of all ages!) the opportunity to operate one of their cranes.

Loodswezen (Dutch Pilots)
Children older than eight could climb a pilot’s ladder.

TOS Port & Logistics, Jonkman Opleidingen and Feyter Forklift Services
This trio of companies organised the Zeeland Forklift Cup, which was awarded to the best forklift driver in Zeeland.

It is estimated that more than 600 people went on a cruise around Vlissingen harbour. It is estimated that more than 600 people went on a cruise around Vlissingen harbour.

Delta Reddingshonden Groep (Delta Rescue Dogs)
Delta Reddingshonden Groep gave demonstrations on how they train their rescue dogs to search for missing people.

EPZ
Visitors were able to learn more about the workings of Borssele nuclear power station with help from a Virtual Reality presentation.

Harbour cruise
This was a unique cruise through Vlissingen’s harbour area; a fun experience to places that are not normally accessible to the public.

Damen Naval and Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen (DSV) organised their own activities too. These included a guided tour of the Vlissingen-Oost terrain with the solar-powered Zonnetrein (passing through DSV’s covered dry-dock and Damen Naval’s production hall #2) and a trip on board its Project F.A.S.T. vessel (involving the conversion of a Stan Patrol 900 into an electric autonomous vessel).

Visitors could take a guided tour of Damen Naval and Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen’s facilities on a solar-powered train. Visitors could take a guided tour of Damen Naval and Damen Shiprepair Vlissingen’s facilities on a solar-powered train.
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