Signing in/out of schengan at Blankenburg

[Daydream believer]

I always thought that one could sign in & out at Blankenburg. The customs office being by the harbour wall.
However, one of our members has directed me to the Pleasure craft Declaration form. This seems to indicate that one has to sign in & out of Blankenburg via a Zeebrugge office
ie Extract as below:-
Crossing of the external borders of the Schengen Area

The crossing of the external borders of the Schengen Area may be executed only at the official border crossing points (inbound and outbound) and during the official opening hours.
Once they have entered the Schengen area legitimately, after passing the necessary border controls, persons can move freely in the Schengen area for the period allowed to them.
The official Belgian maritime border crossing points are:

• BEANR – Antwerp
• BEBBG – Blankenberge (via Zeebrugge)
• BEGNE – Ghent
• BENIE – Nieuwpoort (via Ostend)
• BEOST – Ostend
• BEZEE - Zeebrugge

This seems to indicate that he is correct.
Can anyone advise if they have actually checked in & out at Blankenburg in 2022. I am sure that I have seen posts confirming this, but I may be mistaken & would like to check & have details of any restrictions imposed. Times etc
Thanks

 

[westhinder]

I always thought that one could sign in & out at Blankenburg. The customs office being by the harbour wall.
However, one of our members has directed me to the Pleasure craft Declaration form. This seems to indicate that one has to sign in & out of Blankenburg via a Zeebrugge office
ie Extract as below:-
Crossing of the external borders of the Schengen Area

The crossing of the external borders of the Schengen Area may be executed only at the official border crossing points (inbound and outbound) and during the official opening hours.
Once they have entered the Schengen area legitimately, after passing the necessary border controls, persons can move freely in the Schengen area for the period allowed to them.
The official Belgian maritime border crossing points are:

• BEANR – Antwerp
• BEBBG – Blankenberge (via Zeebrugge)
• BEGNE – Ghent
• BENIE – Nieuwpoort (via Ostend)
• BEOST – Ostend
• BEZEE - Zeebrugge

This seems to indicate that he is correct.
Can anyone advise if they have actually checked in & out at Blankenburg in 2022. I am sure that I have seen posts confirming this, but I may be mistaken & would like to check & have details of any restrictions imposed. Times etc
Thanks

Border control is carried out by the Maritime Police (Scheepvaartpolitie/Police Navale), not by Customs. There are only two Maritime Police offices in the coastal harbours that are open 24/7: Zeebrugge and Oostende. The office in Nieuwpoort is office hours only, outside these you have to ring Oostende to make arrangements. Blankenberge does not have a Maritime Police office, if you want to clear in or out there you always have to call Zeebrugge and make arrangements. If you're lucky they may come out to you, if not you will have to visit them.

You will find all the relevant information here: Pleasure Craft Declaration

 

[Daydream believer]

. Blankenberge does not have a Maritime Police office, if you want to clear in or out there you always have to call Zeebrugge and make arrangements. If you're lucky they may come out to you, if not you will have to visit them.

You will find all the relevant information here: Pleasure Craft Declaration

Have you had practical experience of this?
The section I posted is from the Pleasure Craft Declaration

 

[bluerm166]

Yes ,after an abortive attempt to get to Loon Plage office at Dunkerque I nipped along and entered at Blankenberg the next day.The berthing master at the Scarphout called them up at my request and two friendly officers appeared in about 20 minutes.Stamped in about 5 minutes flat.

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes ,after an abortive attempt to get to Loon Plage office at Dunkerque I nipped along and entered at Blankenberg the next day.The berthing master at the Scarphout called them up at my request and two friendly officers appeared in about 20 minutes.Stamped in about 5 minutes flat.

So they did come to Blankenburg & stamp the passports, even though the office was not officially open
Thankyou that helps a lot

 

[westhinder]

So they did come to Blankenburg & stamp the passports, even though the office was not officially open
Thankyou that helps a lot

DD, there is no maritime police office in Blankenberge, nor to the best of my knowledge is there a customs office. Blankenberge will always be served from Zeebrugge, which is staffed 24/7. Whether officers will come out to Blankenberge or how quickly, will depend on the workload in Zeebrugge at that particular moment.

 

[westhinder]

Have you had practical experience of this?
The section I posted is from the Pleasure Craft Declaration

Yes I have, returning from the U.K. we have to comply with all the formalities except having the passports stamped. My homeport is Nieuwpoort and the procedure is as indicated on the website.

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes I have, returning from the U.K. we have to comply with all the formalities except having the passports stamped. My homeport is Nieuwpoort and the procedure is as indicated on the website.

OK I have filled in the pleasure craft form in the same way as I did for ostend. But there is no office at Nieuport or blankenburge. So what do i do when I turn up at those 2 ports of entry?

 

[westhinder]

OK I have filled in the pleasure craft form in the same way as I did for ostend. But there is no office at Nieuport or blankenburg. So what do i do when I turn up at those 2 ports of entry?

There is an office in Nieuwpoort, but it is office hours only. At any other time you have to contact Oostende, which is 24/7. The telephone number is on the website. The harbourmaster may wel call for you, if you're lucky.
As there is no office in Blankenberge, you always have to contact the office in Zeebrugge, which is 24/7. The phone number is on the website.

 

[Daydream believer]

There is an office in Nieuwpoort, but it is office hours only. At any other time you have to contact Oostende, which is 24/7. The telephone number is on the website. The harbourmaster may wel call for you, if you're lucky.
As there is no office in Blankenberge, you always have to contact the office in Zeebrugge, which is 24/7. The phone number is on the website.

There is an office building in Blankenburg with the sign over the door. I went & looked for it when I cycled there last year. But of course that does not mean that it is manned

Are you sure about Zeebrugge being 24/7. The details I have seen on the website are as enclosed extract:-
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 12:00
This is why I was asking for experiences from people who have actually used it & when

I know about Ostend, having been there & had the passport stamped twice already. Seems to me that it might be easier to take the tram to Ostend because the office is in the same building as the train station & 24/7 so easy to find. Rather than hunt down a customs official in Zeebrugge.
But of course, if they will come to the harbour in Blankenburg that is best.

 

[westhinder]

There is an office building in Blankenburg with the sign over the door. I went & looked for it when I cycled there last year. But of course that does not mean that it is manned

Are you sure about Zeebrugge being 24/7. The details I have seen on the website are as enclosed extract:-
Opening hours:
Monday - Friday: 08:00 - 12:00
This is why I was asking for experiences from people who have actually used it & when

I know about Ostend, having been there & had the passport stamped twice already. Seems to me that it might be easier to take the tram to Ostend because the office is in the same building as the train station & 24/7 so easy to find. Rather than hunt down a customs official in Zeebrugge.
But of course, if they will come to the harbour in Blankenburg that is best.

Yes I'm positive, Zeebrugge is 24/7, which is logical as Zeebrugge is a vastly bigger and more important harbour. That also implies that they will only come out to Blankenberge when the workload allows. They may have organized themselves so as to have someone available by day in the summer months, that I do not know.
But if you prefer to take the tram to Oostende, I suppose they won't turn you away when you're there, but then you never know, police and regulations...

 

[Koeketiene]

Blankenburg



Blankenberge

 

[Daydream believer]

I often cycle to Blankenburge when in Ostend. It is a pleasant enough ride & a couple of hours in the place is enough. I like to drag the other members of the club cruise along if they are with me. One can hire bikes very near to the harbour. Now I have folding Brompton E-bikes it is a doddle.
Robert the last HM at Ostend used to liken it to the, "Blackpool of Belgium"
It has a reasonable chandlery & a refuelling station, which is easy to get access to. Something which is not readily available in Ostend unless one has cans & wants to use the garage near the RYCO

 

[bluerm166]

Blankenberge Blankenberge Blankenberge Blankenberge ........................................................................

 

[Daydream believer]

Blankenberge Blankenberge Blankenberge Blankenberge ........................................................................

I do not recognise the song. Who sings it? ?

 

[DanTribe]

I wish I had known this before my visit last year. The HM at Nieuwpoort Air Force marina said we didn't need our passports stamped but phoned the police station who agreed to do it. The police woman said we should do it on-line, I couldn't make it work, so she grudgingly agreed to do it for me. After much huffing and puffing she said she couldn't make it work either, nor could her sergeant, so she stamped our passports anyway.
On our way home in September we tried to book out at Nieuwpoort police office, but there was a note in Flemish, on the door which I understood to mean, "visiting yachts, don't try to report here, we don't want to know". I tried to deposit a paper copy but the letter box was bolted shut.

 

[Daydream believer]

The Pleasure Craft Declaration form that is on the web site can be found in a couple of places. One version works & one does not. If the one you have is unsuccessful, you have to note exactly where you picked it up & then try another from a different place lower down the google listings. They look exactly the same which is confusing. They have not removed the duff one. Once you have the working version, it is reasonably easy. Albeit time consuming. The annoying thing is that if one makes an error one has to start all over again & one cannot print off copies until one actually emails it to the recipient address.

 

[DanTribe]

It never occurred to me that there was a duff version.
Yes, It was very frustrating, I must have filled it in 10 times, then it disappears and have to start again. I thought it may have been because I was trying to do it on my phone.
It wasn't just me, the havenmeisters at Vlaamse Yachthaven, WSKLuM and the Police also failed.
The general advice seemed to be, don't bother us, it's your Governments problem, not ours.

 

[westhinder]

I do not recognise the song. Who sings it? ?

The Clement Peirens Explosition

 

[Daydream believer]

It never occurred to me that there was a duff version.
Yes, It was very frustrating, I must have filled it in 10 times, then it disappears and have to start again. I thought it may have been because I was trying to do it on my phone.
It wasn't just me, the havenmeisters at Vlaamse Yachthaven, WSKLuM and the Police also failed.
The general advice seemed to be, don't bother us, it's your Governments problem, not ours.

I bought a new Ipad specifically for the purpose.Then I added a 2 year sim card.
One is supposed to fill in the PCD before leaving the UK for Belgian shores. They then acknowledge receipt of the form, by return email. Usually within the hour. One does not fill it when one gets there, unless it is for departure- in which case one will have already solved the issue of the form working.
But if they do not care about stamping the passport upon entry & one can provide proof of that- in case some official gets shirty somewhere- then I cannot see that there is need to worry about getting it stamped on departure. The 90 day rule should not have clicked in, if they have not recorded one's entry. If on the other hand they have taken passport details etc. ( by photo probably) Then it is imperative to get that exit stamp to stop the 90 day clock.