The museum ship Amandine will reopen to visitors again on Saturday. The ship that is moored in the West Flemish coastal city of Ostend has been closed to the public for the past four year to allow renovation work to be carried out. The exterior of the ship has been freshened up, the museum’s reception has been renewed and the exhibition aboard the Amadine has also been updated.
Despite the scale of the renovation work that has been carried out, the revamped Amandine does not look all that different than it did 4 years ago.
Nevertheless, Samuel Lauwers of the Ostend Tourist Office told VRT News that a lot has been done to ensure that the public can enjoy visiting the museum ship for many years to come.
"Structurally in particular, there were a lot of problems: large rust spots, water seepage and welds that were broken. We had the ship completely sandblasted, repaired, and repainted. All we have to do now is add some accessories, such as nets and so on."
"If at first glance, the Amandine now looks the same as it did four years ago, that's actually a compliment. We felt it was very important to maintain the ship’s authenticity."
More than just fishmen’s tales
What does look very different is the area under the ship's deck. Previously this was home to display cabinets with utensils that fishermen took with them on their voyages to the waters off the coast of Iceland. These have now been replaced by a large interactive wall.
The curator of the museum’s exhibition Ineke Steevens told VRT News that "The wall enables you to see, amongst other things, film and sound clips of fishermen that sailed to Iceland aboard the Amandine or on other ship.
"One story that resonated strongly with me was that of Captain Henri Laplace. He describes very soberly and crudely what he saw and felt when his ship almost capsised. When I think back to his story, it still makes me shiver”.