Ostend (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Students from GO! Maritime Institute Mercator in Ostend is restoring the 1932 Burmeister & Wain engine of the Mercator ship. Led by Principal Melissa Vlietick, completion is planned for May 2026.
As VRT News reported, students from the GO! Maritime Institute Mercator (Scholengroep Stroom) in Ostend is taking part in the restoration of the historic Belgian sailing ship Mercator. They are working on the ship’s main engine, a 1932 Burmeister & Wain diesel engine, and the generators that have not been maintained for more than 50 years.
What are Ostend students doing to restore the 1932 Mercator engine?
16-year-old Tibe, a student at the GO! Maritime Institute Mercator in Ostend is one of the young people helping restore the historic Burmeister & Wain engine on the Mercator. Inside the ship’s engine room, he works with parts that have not been used for decades.
“It’s a very old engine that’s no longer made. You don’t see anything like that on new ships anymore. It’s also a very large thing. Modern marine engines are much smaller,”
he said.
According to officials, the project provides students with a hands-on experience working with real maritime machinery. Students learn the skills associated with constructing and maintaining engines from nearly a century ago, while students research the connections between skills to enhance lessons from lectures, documents, and other resources, to practical work.
Principal Melissa Vlietick said,
“Our boys get to work on maritime heritage alongside their teachers. It’s a bit of a prestige project they get to be involved in. And they realise that.”
According to Principal Melissa Vlietick, she is proud of the students’ work and their dedication to the project. The objective is to restore the 1932 Burmeister & Wain diesel engine to working order, which would potentially make it the only B&W engine still in its original location and operational in the world. This project will be completed by May 2026, when the ship will be on display at Oostende Voor Anker, the city’s principal maritime festival.
The Mercator is a historic Belgian sailing ship launched in 1932 and designed by naval officer Adrien de Gerlache. It served for many years as a training vessel for the Belgian Navy and merchant fleet before being retired in 1960. During its active years, the ship carried out several important missions, including the return of Father Damien’s remains from Hawaii in 1936.
Since 1961, the Mercator has been a museum ship in Ostend and a well-known part of the city’s maritime heritage. In 2024, a new restoration project began to repair the ship’s original Burmeister & Wain diesel engine, with help from volunteers and students of the GO! Maritime Institute Mercator.
