In the late nineteen-sixties, when in the Netherlands ports seemed to spring up like mushrooms, a clear need for some kind of coördination of port development on a national level was felt. For this purpose the first predecessor of the National Ports Council (in Dutch: Nationale Havenraad, NHR) was founded in 1968. In the present NHR are the national government (various ministries), regional and local authorities and the ports industry (employers and employees) presented.
The NHR advises on request or otherwise to the Minister of Transport en Public Works (Minister van Verkeer en Waterstaat) and to all others represented in the council on all matters concerning seaports. The port authorities however are autonomous. The NHR is an advisory board that aims at coördination. In addition to that the NHR may be regarded as a 'forum' which allows the participants to adjust and tune their policy at an early stage.

Port management in the Netherlands

Public administration in the Netherlands is divided into three levels: state, province and municipality. In principle port administration is entrusted to the municipalities. The port of Rotterdam is run bij the Port of Rotterdam Ltd. The municipality of Rotterdam owns the greater part of the port of Rotterdam Ltd shares. The port of Amsterdam is run by a separate municipal body. In all the other municipal ports port administration is incorporated in the municipal administration as a whole.

By law municipalities are given the opportunity to jointly execute responsibilities entrusted to them. Such is the case with the three harbourboards (in dutch: havenschappen): Groningen Seaports (Delfzijn and Eemshaven), havenschap Moerdijk and Zeeland Seaports (Vlissingen and Terneuzen).

The tidal port facilities at Velsen/IJmuiden are run by two private companies. Zeehaven IJmuiden N.V. (a limited company in which the province of North Holland and the municipality of Velsen together hold a minority of shares) is responisble for the port basins south of the IJmuiden sealocks complex. The quays north of thes locks are a part of the site of the Blasfurnace- and steelworks Corys/Hoogovens N.V. Both (Corus and the municipality of Velsen) do run some port facilities along the North Sea Canal too.

Port authorities in the Netherlands offer port bassins and quays for seaborne and inland waterway shipping and industrial sites near those port basins. Their costs of investment and maintenance have to be covered by the revenues derived from harbour dues and the hiring out of sale of sites. The state is responsible (and pays) for the network of highways, railways, inland waterways and the maritime entrances of the ports. Often however the port authorities themselves pay for the extension of their maritime entrance and for the ensuing extra cost of maintenance.

As a result of the Treaty of Mannheim (on free shipping on the river Rhine) the state does not charge for the use of inland waterways and maritime entrances of the ports and some private companies do possess port facilities situated directly along those waterways. In fact these facilities are a kind of private port too. Examples: the Stena Line facility in Hoek van Holland and the Total jetty in the river Scheldt estuary.

In the Dutch seaports services like towing, mooring and unmooring, stevedoring and storage are offerted only by private companies.