Towboat leaving the port of Ostend at heyday

Achenbach's use of oil paint achieves a high level of realism, with detailed renderings of the boat, dock, and sea. The work's chiaroscuro technique emphasizes the contrast between light and dark, adding depth to the scene.

The painting is held in the collection of the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp. Andreas Achenbach was part of a family of artists, with his brother Oswald also being a landscape painter; the two were known as the "Alpha and Omega" of landscape painters.