Dutch authority bars Antwerp cargo inlet work

The ruling -- made on environmental grounds -- has implications for Antwerp's development as a port, Europe's third largest container port based on 2008 figures.

Both the Netherlands and Belgium wanted to start the work last year when the first permits were issued for dredging work.

But in a provisional ruling Tuesday, the Dutch Council of State said Dutch Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Gerda Verburg was unable to conclude with "sufficient certainty" that the area would not be adversely impacted by the work.

"The passage of larger ships is of crucial importance for us," Antwerp Port Alderman Marc Van Peel was quoted saying by Belgian media.

Environmental groups De Zeeuwse Milieufederatie and the Netherlands Society for the Protection of Birds had objected to work in the Westerschelde, an estuary for the Scheldt river that runs through Belgium and out into the sea in Dutch territory.

The groups argued the area was an internationally unique region where mud and sandbanks attract a large number of migratory birds.

In response to the ruling, a Dutch ministry spokeswoman said the ministry would consult with Belgian colleagues to discuss less invasive measures during dredging works to minimize damage.

The Dutch Council of State will hand down its final ruling later this year.

(Reporting by Aaron Gray-Block; Editing by Ron Askew)