{{short description|Seaport of Rotterdam, Netherlands}} {{More citations needed|date=December 2024}} {{Expand Dutch|Botlek|date=November 2024}} {{infobox port |image = Haven van Rotterdam 2023 (04).jpg |image_size = |image_caption = Aerial view of Botlek, looking northwest |pushpin_map = |country = |native_name = |native_name_lang= |location = |coordinates = |locode = |opened = |operated = |owner = |type = |sizewater = |sizeland = |size = |berths = |wharfs = |piers = |draft_depth = |employees = |arrivals = |cargotonnage = |containervolume = |cargovalue = |passengertraffic= |website = }} [[image:RMSDeltaNorth.jpg|thumb|right|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.<ref>{{cite web |title=Home |url=https://botlekrotterdam.nl/index.html |website=Botlek Port Facility B.V |access-date=1 December 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Botlek and Vondelingenplaat {{!}} Port of Rotterdam |url=https://www.portofrotterdam.com/en/building-port/safe-port/flood-risk-management/botlek-and-vondelingenplaat |website=www.portofrotterdam.com |access-date=1 December 2024 |language=en}}</ref>
==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 first dammed off at its southern end (connecting Rozenburg and Welplaat) between April 1949 and June 1950 and then rebuilt {{convert|4101|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} to the west in 1956.<ref name="Dam">{{cite news |title=Brielse Maas en omgeving wordt een recreatie-centrum |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMSAVL02:000527061:mpeg21:a00041 |access-date=1 May 2026 |work=Nieuwe Vlaardingsche courant |date=2 June 1950 |language=nl |trans-title=The Brielse Maas and Surrounding Area to Become a Recreation Center}}</ref><ref name="Botlekdam">{{cite news |title=Uitvoering Botlekplan Bereikt Derde Fase |url=https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=MMMHW01:001069045:mpeg21:a00008 |access-date=1 May 2026 |work=Nieuwsblad voor de Hoeksche Waard en IJselmonde |date=15 Oct 1956 |language=nl |trans-title=Implementation of Botlek Plan Reaches Third Phase}}</ref> Parts Rozenburg and Welplaat on either side of the waterway were subsequently developed into an oil port, which could handle larger ships than the old harbor along the Nieuwe Maas.
== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed" heights="100"> File:Rotterdam-Botlek, Shin Etsu (fabriek voor het produceren van vinylchloridemonomeer) IMG 2507 2022-07-11 12.34.jpg|Shin Etsu (vinyl chloride monomer production plant) File:Rotterdam-Botlek, Air Products (fabriek voor het produceren van industriële gassen en chemicaliën) IMG 2515 2022-07-11 12.48.jpg|Air Products (factory for producing industrial gases and chemicals) File:Rotterdam-Botlek, opslagtranks van Esso raffinaderij IMG 2525 2022-07-11 12.59.jpg|Storage tanks from Esso refinery </gallery>
==See also== * Europoort
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta Category:Water transport in the Netherlands