Port of Zeebrugge’s board of directors appointed Tom Hautekiet as the new chief executive officer (CEO) of the port on 2 July.
Tom Hautekiet was born and raised in West-Flanders. He is an industrial construction engineer, and has followed several management courses.
He gained international experience at the West-Flemish multinational Bekaert, where he became Senior Vice President within the Building Products division. This division counts 700 employees spread all over the world. Within his function, Tom negotiated multiple partnerships between different countries, including some with China.
Port of Zeebrugge started the process to recruit a new CEO after the election of Joachim Coens, Hautekiet’s predecessor, as the national president of the Flemish political party CD&V on 6 December 2019. As the responsibilities that come with this political function were not reconcilable with the position as CEO at the port authority of Zeebrugge, the vice president Rik Goetinck was temporarily appointed CEO.
