The BarQuentin Mercator was built as a training ship for the Belgian merchant fleet, and was named after the Belgian cartographer Gerardus Mercator. It was built in Leith, Scotland in 1932, and was used in exercises in addition to its participation in world events and exhibitions specializing in sailing, and in 1961 it was converted to become the first floating museum of its kind in Belgium, and it has been in the Ostend marina since 1964.