In November ’99, there were no signs yet of the big changes that the Belgian rail freight scene would undergo during the next 5 to 10 years. There’s no sign yet of any private operators, nor any modern traction. Crossrail would only start running 4 years later, and the 77 series diesel locos were still in an early stage of testing & delivery.
We see SNCB 7351 hauling a steel train coming from the Sidmar steel factory, since 2006 Arcelor Mittal, to the Gent-Zeehaven yard. The train is running past the Sifferdok, that actually still looks very similar today.