Since 1998 the ports of Vlissingen and Terneuzen have operated under one port authority: Zeeland Seaports. Before the merger, the two ports were managed independently. On this page you can read how they were joined together.

The Terneuzen Port Authority
In 1960 the Minister of Transport and Public Works decided that the harbours, quays, discharging berths and related works and sites along the Dutch section of the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal should be governed as one port. For this purpose, a public governing body would have to be established, in which the municipalities located along the Canal would work together. In 1961 the Terneuzen – Canal Zone Zeeuwsch Vlaanderen research committee was established, in which all parties involved were represented. The committee reported in 1963 that the region required a deliberate, intensive and elastic form of port governance, and that the establishment of a Terneuzen Port Authority could only achieve this.

The Vlissingen Port Authority
Following a letter from the General Director of the Departmentof Public Works to the Executive Council of the Province of Zeeland on November 28, 1961, a committee was given the assignment of investigating the possibilities of a joint agreement concerning the management of the port and industrial area of South Sloe. Various parties were represented in this committee. On March 19, 1964, the committee presented to the Minister of Transport and Public Works a concept for a joint agreement on establishing the Vlissingen Port Authority.

The Port Authorities of Terneuzen and of Vlissingen were legally established on September 10, 1970, and April 8, 1971, respectively. National, provincial and municipal authorities participated in these joint agreements.

The launching of these new port organisations was an instant success. In the years that followed, transhipment activities in the area expanded from 3 million to 11.5 million tonnes per year. Transhipment in the Sloe area grew from just under 1 million tonnes to almost 13 million tonnes per year. The total number of jobs in both ports rose to almost 13,500.

One Port Authority
In 1994 the Dutch government announced its decision to discontinue participation in the Zeeland port authorities. It also urged a move towards one port authority. In 1998 the process of merging was formalised: on January 1, 1998, the new port authority, Zeeland Seaports, became a fact.