Amsterdam city council officials say the port of Amsterdam should be turned into an independent company, owned by the council but operated at arms length, according to internal documents quoted by the Financieele Dagblad.

The documents emphasise there is no question of the port being privatised, the FD says. Rotterdam port was put at arms length in 2004.
The city council wants to double throughput at the harbour to 124 million tonnes a year between 2008 and 2020. Freek Ossel, who is in charge of the port on the city council’s executive board, told the paper more independence would boost employment and environmental awareness.