Port of Antwerp Bruges CEO Jacques Vandermeiren Steps Down After Eight Years as Europe’s Second Largest Port Pivots to New Strategy

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Jacques Vandermeiren, who led the Port of Antwerp Bruges through its landmark merger and a string of geopolitical disruptions, has stepped down as chief executive, the port authority confirmed. Rob Smeets, the current chief operating officer, will serve as interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent successor.

The departure follows months of internal discussions about the direction of Europe’s second largest port by throughput. The organisation said it is entering a new strategic phase centred on cost efficiency and sustainable value creation, and the board decided that a fresh leader should design and carry the next plan from the outset.

Vandermeiren, 62, took the helm in January 2017 and is widely credited with engineering the 2022 merger between the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, creating a single entity that now handles roughly 267 million tonnes of maritime cargo per year. The combined port supports around 164,000 direct and indirect jobs and generates more than 21 billion euros in annual added value.

Board President Johan Klaps, who also serves as Vice Mayor of Antwerp, praised the outgoing CEO for strengthening the port’s global position and advancing innovation and decarbonisation. Klaps called the Antwerp Zeebrugge merger the defining achievement of Vandermeiren’s tenure.

Vandermeiren himself described the move as the start of a new era for both the organisation and his personal career. He said he had led the job with conviction and called it a privilege to transform the port authority into what he described as a modern, high performing company.

Smeets, who joined the executive committee in 2017 and oversees nautical operations, asset management and major infrastructure projects, pledged to ensure continuity for employees and customers during the transition. He has held a series of management roles across the port and broader logistics sector, including positions at bpost and the former Antwerp Port Authority.

The leadership change arrives as the port contends with a demanding operating environment. Full year throughput in 2025 fell 4.1 percent to 266.5 million tonnes, weighed down by geopolitical tensions, volatile trade flows and an estimated loss of 2.4 million tonnes from roughly 25 days of industrial action. Container dwell times at some terminals reached seven to eight days during the first half of 2025, compared with a normal five days, as alliance reshuffling and poor schedule reliability strained capacity.

Container traffic, the port’s largest segment, remained broadly stable over the full year, rising just 0.4 percent in tonnage and 0.7 percent in TEU. But market share in the Hamburg to Le Havre range slipped 1.2 percentage points to 29.3 percent in the first nine months, underscoring the urgency of the Extra Container Capacity Antwerp project, known as ECA.

The incoming leader will inherit a portfolio of high stakes infrastructure investments and policy challenges. The ECA project, which involves a new dock and more efficient use of existing terminal space, is designed to relieve chronic container congestion that has plagued not only Antwerp Bruges but also neighbouring ports across Northwest Europe. A new lock at Zeebrugge is also on the agenda, following investment commitments from the Flemish Government confirmed in 2025.

Trade policy adds another layer of complexity. The United States overtook the United Kingdom as the port’s largest trading partner in 2025, with more than 31 million tonnes of cargo. But U.S. import tariffs on steel, aluminium and vehicles have already begun to weigh on export volumes, and the outlook for transatlantic trade remains uncertain.

On the energy and sustainability front, the port is positioning itself as a transition hub for circularity, low carbon molecules and collective carbon dioxide infrastructure, including the NextGen District development. Vandermeiren was a vocal champion of the hydrogen transition, although his approach drew criticism from parts of the business community, including the Flemish employers’ organisation Voka Antwerpen Waasland, which publicly questioned the pace and direction of the energy strategy in 2024.

The board said the search for a new CEO would begin immediately. No timeline for the appointment was disclosed.