Antwerp port boss reeling after fiery letter from VOKA: firm administrators “offended” after dialog acquired out of hand

“Over the previous two years we have now repeatedly mentioned that we – similar to our colleagues at Alfaport VOKA (port neighborhood representatives, ed.) – seen how there’s open communication between the very best administration of the Port of Antwerp Bruges and the key stakeholders and the shoppers of our beloved port are lacking,” wrote VOKA Antwerp-Waasland CEO Luc Luwel and chairman Andreas Pfeffer to mayor Bart De Wever and port senator Annick De Ridder.

The letter reveals a breach of belief between a number of key gamers within the port and Vandermeiren, who moved from Elia to Antwerp Port Authority in 2016. From 2022, he has been on the helm of the merged firm Port of Antwerp Bruges.

Negotiations with firm leaders acquired out of hand

Luwel and Pfeffer say they’ve been repeatedly approached by logistics managers and business gamers in regards to the Vandermeiren rule. “We see the identical sample emerge time and again: an absence of willingness to actually hear, a want for self-righteousness and a dogmatic view of the targets and the trail to it ought to be pursued in direction of local weather and power transition.”

VOKA officers say they’re sounding the alarm after a dialog final month between Vandermeiren and “senior representatives from the largest gamers in our port” acquired out of hand and the corporate’s managers They’re asking De Wever and De Ridder, who can be the chairman of the board of administrators of the port, to “take the suitable measures”.