February 20 - Last Friday (17th), Belgian port workers ended their strike over pension reform that brought shipping in Europe's second-busiest cargo port of Antwerp to a halt and operators are now working to clear the backlog of cargoes.

The strike involving port workers such as traffic controllers and harbour pilots began late on Monday in protest against a planned increase of their retirement age to 62 from 60.

In Antwerp, a backlog of around 70 vessels was waiting either to enter or exit the port.