New, milder farmers’ disruptions hitting Belgian ports
NewsThe relative good behaviour will be related to the EUR 1,000 per person fine that Antwerp-Bruges and North Sea Port have secured before court earlier this week.
Tensions within ZSP
Tensions have further risen inside Zeeland Seaports (ZSP), following the dismissal of a commercial manager suspected of having leaked confidential information to a third party
The unnamed offocial is going – after having been on "garden leave" since early August – even though the ‘forensic investigation’ commissioned by ZSP, which included sifting the employee's company cell phone, failed to produce any evidence. This has recently been communicated internally by ZSP management.
The affair has frosted the already deteriorated workfloor atmosphere, writes local publication PZC. Reportedly the works council is up in arms, as staff members reject the way the commercial manager and others have been treated. Tensions have also risen with ZSP's new Commercial Manager, Marjolein Warburg.
In letter to ZSP's director Jan Lagasse, the works council argues that the investigation into the leaking not only should have included Mrs. Warburg, but that she cannot keep her post, due to complaints from port companies in Vlissingen.
The Dutch province of Zeeland, ZSP’s biggest shareholder, has expressed concern in a recent meeting with ZSP management and has stressed that whistle blowers must not be sanctioned. ZSP would be better off addressing complaints from both staff and port operators, the provincial governor told Zeeland’s parliament.
The controversy came to light when confidential information from Dutch Offshore Contractors (DOC) and Finsa was relayed to Danish Dong Energy, which is eyeing the same Vlissingen site as these two already established companies.
The latest disturbances come at a bad time as Ghent town council will shortly (October 23 and 24) discuss the proposed merger with ZSP.
Ghent and ZSP's Vlissingen and Terneuzen facilities jointly handled 62.3 Mt of maritime cargo in 2016, making them Europe’s 10th biggest port complex tonnage-wise.
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