The Institutional Position of Seaports

Abstract

The p h e n o m e n o n o f international seaport administration is the subject o f this book. As a Ph.D.-student at the Delft University o f T e c h n o l o g y (period 1993 - 1997) I had the opportunity to develop and exercise m y hobby on a full time base. T h e result was a Ph.D.-dissertation which was d e f e n d e d in December 1997. Unfortunately, these research results were published in Dutch while t he majority o f t he interviewees and employees in the world o f international seaport administration are English speaking people. Both for the reason o f high international relevance o f t he results I felt the necessity to get this Ph.D.-research translated and published in English. With the excellent help o f m y promotor Prof.dr. W.G.M. Salet I found Prof.dr. H. van d er Wusten prepared to cover this study on international seaport administration in the Kluwer GeoJournal Library series. I thank Mr. Van der Wusten for giving m e this opportunity. But also due to the outstanding help o f m y current employer 'Zeeland Seaports Authority' the funding for the translation became very quickly possible. I thank the Managing Director o f Zeeland Seaports Authority, Mr. J.M.H.G. Philippen, and the Commercial Director, Capt. J. Verkiel, for their interest and wonderful help in getting this study translated. A n d o f course m y sincere thanks go to Katy O w e n w h o actually m a d e this dream come true. Finally I w o u l d like to remind m y s e l f that this book has become w h a t it is due to the love and patience o f m y wife Corianne and our little girl Gemma.