Zeeland Seaports and Ghent Port Company signed a merger agreement on Friday 8 December, as all stakeholders agreed with the merger. The name of the cross-border merger port will be North Sea Port.
The signing took place on a ship that symbolically sailed from Ghent across the Dutch border in the direction of Terneuzen.
This merger port will represents the 60-kilometre-long cross-border port area of Flushing, Borsele and Terneuzen in the Netherlands up to Ghent in Belgium.
From September to December, the eight shareholders approved the merger agreement. In Flanders, these were the city of Ghent and the municipalities of Evergem and Zelzate and the province of East Flanders, and in the Netherlands the province of Zeeland and the municipalities of Borsele, Terneuzen and Vlissingen.
“Early 2018, the European public limited liability company will be established as holding of the two subsidiary companies Zeeland Seaports and Ghent Port Company for which, among others, a supervisory body will be installed. Moreover, there will be a Shareholders Committee with all elected representatives of the municipal councils, councils and state and provincial councils – the shareholders. In addition, there will be structural and bilateral meetings with the shareholders. A participation body for the staff will also be set up for the holding. By maintaining offices at various locations and the setting up of a business consultancy body, the ‘short lines of communication’, much appreciated by the companies, are guaranteed,” North Sea Port said.