The MSC Lorena changed course following a bomb alert on 21 December.
Local media reported that the 275-metre-long vessel turned away from the Port of Antwerp at about 3:00 pm after an unidentified perpetrator had reported of a potential explosion, should the vessel dock at the port.
The captain was instructed to return to Vlissingen along the Scheldt.
Since this morning, the MSC Lorena has been anchored on the Scheldt.
The Maritime Police alerted the Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis, the organisation that looks into terrorism concerns, and the Antwerp port officials when they could see the port.
The authorities made the decision to stop the ship from continuing its course.
“We can confirm that a container ship had to return to the anchorage area last night as a precaution,” said An Berger, Spokeswoman for the Federal Police.
“A threatening phone had come in that the ship would explode if it docked. The ship was therefore sent back as a precaution. The investigation into the caller is in full swing.”
