Zeebrugge

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Image:Belgium, Zeebrugge, Church.JPG Zeebrugge (French: Zeebruges) is a harbour-town at the coast of Belgium, a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international Port of Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés and beach.

Located on the coast of the North Sea which is the busiest sea in the world, its central location on the coast, short distance to Great Britain and close vicinity to densely populated industrialized cities makes Zeebrugge a great cross-roads for traffic from all directions. An expressway to Brugge connects Zeebrugge to the European motorways; one can get to Zeebrugge by train and the Kusttram.

The marina is also Belgium's most important fishing port, and the wholesale fish market located there is one of the largest in Europe.

Aside from being a passenger port with ferries to the United Kingdom, the harbour serves as the central port for Europe's automotive industry and is important for the importation, handling and storage of energy products, agriculture products and other general cargo. Unfortunately, in the UK, Zeebrugge is probably best known among the public in relation to the tragic "Zeebrugge Disaster" in which a passenger ferry capsized killing a large number of passengers.

The harbour was also the site of the Zeebrugge Raid on 23 April 1918, when the British Royal Navy put the German inland naval base at Brugge out of action. Admiral Roger Keyes planned and led the assault that stormed the German batteries and sank the ships in the harbour to block the entrance to the base for the last seven months of World War I.

The continental European terminals of Interconnector and Zeepipe gas pipelines are located in Zeebrugge.