The port of Amsterdam will be privatised in 2013, local councillor Freek Ossel said on Monday when he submitted his detailed plans to the council.

Ossel originally announced the privatisation last March with the intention it should go ahead in 2012, but the council wanted a series of questions answered. The answers are included in the report submitted on Monday.
At the moment, the port is in the hands of the council but it will become a ‘government company’: an independent company with shares owned by the council. Initially Amsterdam council will be the sole owner, but it is possible it will sell shares to other councils in the region, the province of Noord-Holland, the state or other port companies.
Ossel says a privatised port will be better able to compete on the international market.