Ostend Game

Phew! That was a close shave! But thanks to the fantastic doctors and nurses here at the QEQM, I'm now sitting up and keeping patients and staff entertained in my own inimitable fashion. The nurse even promised to warm the colonoscope up first, and it doesn't get much better than that.

They have a terrific variety of reading matter here too, and one paper which caught my glass eye was the Belgian Het Nieuwsblad, which they must stock for fluey Flems coming off the TransEuropa ferries in Ramsgate. An article about a 'crisis' in the port of Oostende (Ostend in old money) leapt out. I'm afraid my Belgian's a bit rusty, but it would seem that the local MP, who's also the chairman of the Oostende port authority, was saying:

There is no positive expectancy for a cooperation with a British port. A joint venture with Ramsgate is not for tomorrow, because the British are suspicious and there is much criticism and opposition from Dover.

So Dover are cutting our lunch here in the Millionaires' Playground, eh? What are our lovely council, who run the port, doing to counter that may I ask? Apart from being 'suspicious'?

Coincidentally, there's a salty seaman in the bed next to me who's in to have his pegleg revarnished, and he swears blind that TransEuropa Ferries want to buy one of those super-duper ferries for their Ramsgate - Oostende route, but won't make the investment until the council promise to dredge the port to at least 6.7 metres. And the council won't make the dredge pledge until TransEuropa have bought the ferry. Talk about chickens and eggs!

Vande Lanotte blijft alert voor gevolgen crisis in haven