Botlek

Botlek
Aerial view of Botlek, looking northwest
Click on the map for a fullscreen view

Satellite image of the Rhine–Meuse delta showing the Botlek (r).

Botlek is an industrial port area of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It specialises in petrochemical logistics.

History

Botlek was originally the name of a stretch of the Nieuwe Maas river, part of the Rhine–Meuse delta near the Dutch cities of Vlaardingen and Spijkenisse in the province of South Holland. Specifically, it was the name of the strait that separated the island of Rozenburg from the sand bar of Welplaat. The strait itself was merely the continuation of the Nieuwe Maas, and the stretch of the river south of Rozenburg continued to be called Nieuwe Maas until the confluence with Het Scheur formed the Brielse Maas estuary (now the Brielse Meer).

Major waterway regulation works were carried out in the Netherlands in the 19th and 20th centuries to improve water management and stop the delta from silting up; the Botlek was dammed off at its southern end (connecting Rozenburg and Welplaat) and remodelled into one of the largest of the Rotterdam seaports.

Gallery

• 
  Shin Etsu (vinyl chloride monomer production plant)
• 
  Air Products (factory for producing industrial gases and chemicals)
• 
  Storage tanks from Esso refinery

See also

• Europoort