New composition of Port of Rotterdam Authority Supervisory Board

(Posted on 22/12/23)

Thecla Bodewes and Jacqueline Prins have joined the Port of Rotterdam Authority Supervisory Board. Having served two terms, Miriam Maes is departing as Chair of the Supervisory Board. Koos Timmermans will take over the role of Chair. Wouter van Benten will be appointed Vice Chair.

As 7th generation shipbuilder, Thecla Bodewes has been CEO of Thecla Bodewes Shipyards Group since 1998. The family concern, made up of four shipyards, specialises in building and maintaining various types of seagoing and inland vessels. The company is actively contributing to making shipping more sustainable by developing solutions in the field of methanol, hydrogen and electric shipbuilding.

In addition to her role as CEO, Thecla Bodewes also holds various non-executive roles in the maritime sector, including at the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution and Allseas. Since 2021, she has also been the figurehead of Top Sector Water & Maritime. In this role, too, she is actively involved in the sector’s sustainability agenda. Finally, she is Chair of the Supervisory Board of Scania Production Netherlands and Honorary Consul for the Republic of Paraguay.

Jacqueline Prins is currently General Director/Secretary of the Netherlands Social and Economic Council. In this role, she is active in policy development for socioeconomic issues, external relations at the level of politics, governance and administration, and with social partners. Earlier in her career, she gained extensive political-administrative experience in her work at various ministries in (deputy) management roles, including for ministries critical to the port, such as Infrastructure & Water Management and Economic Affairs & Climate Policy, in the areas of emancipation, telecom and aviation.

Chair Miriam Maes on the changes: ‘We are delighted with the appointment of Thecla Bodewes and Jacqueline Prins to the Port of Rotterdam Authority Supervisory Board. We find ourselves in the middle of a transition to a digital and climate-neutral port. Given the vast scope of this task, their exhaustive knowledge and experience within the nautical-maritime sector and government represent major added value. Their appointment further reinforces the board’s degree of expertise in the fields of technology, innovation, sustainability and its affinity with societal tasks, as well as in the area of diversity and inclusion within the Supervisory Board itself.’

Miriam Maes has been a Supervisory Board member since 1 January 2016, and its Chair since 2018. Her departure is related to the end of the usual eight-year period. She is being succeeded by Koos Timmermans. He has been a Supervisory Board member since 2021, and also Vice Chair since December 2022. The role of Vice Chair will now be filled by Wouter van Benten. He has been a Supervisory Board member since 2018, and is also Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

The Supervisory Board, Port of Rotterdam Authority and both shareholders expressed their deep gratitude to Miriam Maes for her efforts, dedication and loyalty over the last eight years: “With her knowledge of the energy transition, her international operational experience and her constructive way of thinking, as Chair she has made a major contribution to further strengthening the port’s core activities and driving greater sustainability in the industrial complex.”

With the departure of Miriam Maes and the arrival of Thecla Bodies and Jacqueline Prins, the Port of Rotterdam Authority Supervisory Board once again has five members. Having been nominated by the Supervisory Board, members of the Port of Rotterdam Supervisory Board are appointed by the shareholders for a term of four years.