Shareholders
North Sea Port has eight public shareholders. On the Dutch side of the border they are the province of Zeeland (25%) and Borssele, Terneuzen and Vlissingen municipalities (8.33% each). On the Flemish side, they are the city of Ghent (48.52%), the municipalities of Evergem (0.03%) and Zelzate (0.005%) and the province of East Flanders (1.444%). The shareholders are involved and informed by means of a shareholders' committee. It contains representatives of the municipal councils, the Dutch councils and executives and the provincial councils. In addition, there are ongoing structural and bilateral consultations with the shareholders.
Supervisory body
In order to ensure oversight of the most important decisions by North Sea Port, a supervisory body (in Dutch, toezichthoudend orgaan or TZO) was established. The Dutch and Flemish shareholder groups each put forth four members for the TZO, no more than two of whom (per country) may hold political office. The supervisory body consists of eight members.
Members of the supervisory body
Chairman/vice-chairman
- Sofie Bracke (Chair)
(senior councillor of economy and the port of the city of Ghent) - Pieter van Geel (Vice-Chair)
(former Dutch State Secretary for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment)
Other members
- Wilfried Nielen
(member of the executive board of the province of Zeeland, portfolio: nature and nature experience, cross-border cooperation and Europe, Personnel & organisation and Communication - Stijn Ronsse
(CEO van CAPTURE) - Liesbeth Sinke
(former CFRO of BinckBank NV - (part of SaxoBank)) - Kees Weststrate (alderman for the municipality of Borsele)
- Ann Vereecke (Professor in Operations and Supply Chain Management at Vlerick Business School and Ghent University)
- Filip Watteeuw (alderman for mobility, public space and town planning at the city of Ghent)
When determining how to compensate the members, the port called on the expertise of Guberna, the institute for corporate governance. This organisation recommended calculating remuneration based on a benchmark in keeping with current market conditions. It was decided to provide a combination of a fixed remuneration and an additional fee for each TZO meeting attended.
- The fixed (gross) remuneration for an independent member is €10,000 per year.
- Members receive an additional gross fee of €2,500 for each meeting attended, up to a maximum of four paid meetings per year.
- This yields a maximum gross annual remuneration for independent members of €20,000.
- In the event the chair is an independent member, that individual will receive an additional fixed (gross) remuneration of €5,000 per year.
- Members who hold public office receive no remuneration from the port.
Corporate headquarters and the ‘Havenhuis’
The North Sea Port holding has its offices in the former Sas van Gent city hall, at the heart of the port area on the Dutch-Belgian border. The Havenhuis (Port House) in Ghent – the House of the Free Skippers, on the Graslei – serves as an international calling card for the company.
Number of employees
The North Sea Port port authority, which manages the port's operations, employs 250 people.