Belgium
The RYA would be pleased to receive reports of your experiences by email to cruising@rya.org.uk.
IMPORTANT:
The information below is intended to provide answers to questions that come up regularly. It is not intended as a comprehensive guide and it has limited applicability. Please read the countries introduction to ensure that it is appropriate to you. The standard documentation a UK flagged pleasure vessel operating outside UK Territorial Waters should carry is detailed on the paperwork page.UK Government travel advice
FCDO advice including information on permitted duration of stay and visas for Belgium: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/belgium
Evidence of competence
For information on the validity of RYA certificates abroad see Evidence of Competence Abroad.
A valid ICC should be acceptable evidence of competence as Resolution 40 has been formally adopted by Belgium.
Coastal Waters: required for vessels over 15m in length or capable of more than 20km/h (approx. 11 knots), otherwise there is no specific requirement for evidence of competence other than that stipulated by the vessel's flag state.
Inland Waters: required for vessels over 15m in length or capable of more than 20km/h (approx. 11 knots), otherwise not required.
Standard entry and exit formalities
EU member state (part of the customs territory of the EU (which includes territorial waters)). Further information is provided on the Entry & Exit Formalities page under Customs - EU Member States.
Part of the Schengen area.
As part of the customs territory of the EU (which includes territorial waters) and the Schengen area customs and immigration checks may not always be required on arrival and departure.
All pleasure boats arriving from or departing to a third country (a non-Schengen country) are legally obliged to comply with the reporting formalities for border control. Entry from a non-Schengen country must be made at a port designated as a border crossing point. You can find a list of official Belgian maritime border crossing points, as well as a pleasure craft declaration form (for crossing the external Schengen Area border) at https://www.police.be/bordercontrol/en/pleasure-craft-declaration.
The Federal Police are responsible for the implementation of border control. Specifically, the Maritime and River Police (SPN) supervise cross-border traffic at the maritime external borders.
Buying diesel
It is unlawful in Belgium to buy or use marked 'red' diesel for propelling a private pleasure craft. See red diesel abroad for further information.
Holding tanks
See holding tanks for information on the discharge of waste water.
Arriving by road
In Belgium the maximum allowed dimensions for private vehicles and towed trailers are restricted to height 4m, width 2.50m, length (including any coupling device) car 12m, trailer with one axle up to 3,500kg 8m, between 3,500 - 8,000kg 10m, over 8,000kg 11m, trailer with two axles or more 12m vehicle/trailer combination 18m.
Belgium requires that vessels under a foreign flag have documents to prove the vessel's nationality as required by the regulations of the country in question. UK registration may therefore not be strictly necessary for boats arriving by road, however local rules may mean that a vessel (especially a RIB or PWC) cannot be launched if it is not registered and without a registration document the owner has no way of proving that the vessel is a British ship.
Inland waterways
Belgium is a signatory to the Regional Arrangement Concerning the Radiotelephone Service on Inland Waterways (RAINWAT). Where a VHF is required or is to be used on the inland waterways of RAINWAT signatory countries, the set must be ATIS enabled and vessels must comply with the requirements of RAINWAT.
Notices to skippers for Belgian inland waterways are published on the VisuRIS website at: https://www.visuris.be/scheepvaartberichten
Flanders waterways
Boats that are greater than 6m in length and/or navigate faster than 20km per hour are required to have a navigation permit for many of the waterways in the Flanders region (not required for the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal, the Bruges-Zeebrugge Canal, the Grensleie, the Meuse commune, the Beneden-Zeeschelde, the Scheldt-Rhine connection, in the port of the city of Antwerp and in coastal marinas)).
There is more information on this at: https://www.visuris.be/waterwegenvergunning
The VisuRIS ‘Pleasure Boating on Flemish Waterways’ https://www.vlaamsewaterweg.be/sites/default/files/2019-1044_brochure_pleziervaart_2020_def_en_lr.pdf guide also provides useful information.
Wallonia waterways
A Permis de Circulation may be required for Wallonia waterways.
There is more information on pleasure boating on the waterways of Wallonia on the General Operational Directorate of Mobility and Waterways website http://voies-hydrauliques.wallonie.be/opencms/opencms/fr/plaisance/navigation_de_plaisance
Websites
SPF Mobilit et Transports: https://mobilit.belgium.be/fr with specific page on recreational boating: mobilit.belgium.be/fr/navigation/navigation-de-plaisance
Belgian government official portal: https://www.belgium.be/en/
Customs: https://finance.belgium.be/en/about_fps/structure_and_services/general_administrations/customs_and_excise
Tourist Offices: Visit Belgium: http://www.visitbelgium.com/ Flanders: www.visitflanders.com https://www.visitflanders.com/en
Wallonia: visitwallonia.be https://visitwallonia.com/en-gb
Belgian Embassy, London: https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/embassies-and-consulates
British Embassy: https://www.gov.uk/world/organisations/british-embassy-brussels
Coastguard: www.kustwacht.be
Maritime and River/Waterway Police: http://www.polfed-fedpol.be/org/org_dga_spn_en.php
Hydrographic Office: www.vlaamsehydrografie.be
L' Institut Royal Météorologique: www.meteo.be
VisuRIS: https://www.visuris.be/
VTS-Scheldt: https://www.vts-scheldt.net/