Pilotage

Hendrik Kennes, Ferdinand J.A. Truyman, Gustave Royers

Antwerp, Tavernierkaai 3

1890 – 1895

Pilotage

To bring ships safely to the port, there are pilots. In Flanders there are four types: the sea pilot, coast pilot, river pilot and canal pilot. So if you have to go from the North Sea to the Antwerp docks with your large ship, you need three pilots on board: the sea, river and dock pilot. The Antwerp pilotage is now on Thonetlaan, but they used to be here.

Highrise

I often get the question during guided tours on the Eilandje and in the MAS what that little castle at the water is. It was the home of the pilots until a few years ago and is likely to be owned by the city. They even wanted to build highrise, but the ground can’t hold this.

Brabo

At the second highest point of the façade at the Scheldt-side is a sculpture by Brabo. You can read the whole story about this in the blogpost about Brabo. It is one of three Brabo statues in the city center, the other two are in frondt of the cathedral and the town hall. A copy of this sculpture, made by J. Weyns, can be found at Cogels-Osylei 1 in Berchem.

The architect

In 1890 the Antwerp city council decided to erect a building for pilotage and related services. Four years before, a competition had already been organized for a new building. The result was published in l’Emulation magazine and provoked a lot of reactions. In the end, none of the nominees received the assignment. They opted for the design of Hendrik Kennes and Ferdinand Truyman. They had already earned their traces in, among other things, the renovation of the town hall and the stone and the construction of the Royal Atheneum. Strangely enough, all known implementation plans are signed by city architect and engineer Gustave Royers. On 14 July 1895 the building was inaugurated by Mayor Jan Van Rijswijck.

Buoy shed

Next to the building of the pilotage, there is a beautiful warehouse. From 1899 the buoys were dismantled, maintained and repaired here. It was also built under the direction of city engineer Gustave Royers. They may want to place a catering business there later, that would be a great place. A little further south you will also find the Dutch Pilotage Building from the 40s or 50s. Because the Scheldt also flows through the Netherlands, the presence of the Dutch pilots in Antwerp is evident. The Antwerp pilots also have a branch in Vlissingen.