The Port of Rotterdam Authority has announced that Thecla Bodewes and Jacqueline Prins have joined its Supervisory Board.
Since 1998, Thecla Bodewes, a seventh generation shipbuilder, has served as CEO of Thecla Bodewes Shipyards Group. The family business, which reportedly consists of four shipyards, specialising in the construction and maintenance of various types of seagoing and inland vessels.
By creating solutions in the fields of methanol, hydrogen, and electric shipbuilding, the firm is actively helping to making shipping more sustainable.
Thecla Bodewes has many non-executive roles in the maritime sector, notably those at the Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution and Allseas. Since 2021, she has also been the face of Top Sector Water & Maritime.
She is also actively involved in the sector’s environmental strategy in this capacity. Finally, she serves as Chair of the Scania Production Netherlands Supervisory Board and Honorary Consul for the Republic of Paraguay.
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Jacqueline Prins is the current General Director/Secretary of the Netherlands Social and Economic Council. In this capacity, she is involved in policy creation for socioeconomic concerns, external interactions at the levels of politics, government, and administration, as well as with social partners.
Earlier in her career, she gained extensive political-administrative experience while working at various ministries in (deputy) management roles, including for ministries critical to the port, such as Infrastructure & Water Management and Economic Affairs & Climate Policy, in the areas of emancipation, telecom, and aviation.
She also holds various non-executive roles in the public-private domain with societal tasks. She is, for instance, Director of the holding of shareholders in drinking-water concern Evides, and Supervisory Board member of the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre. She is also Supervisory Board Chair of the Netherlands ‘Leergeld’ Foundation for educating disadvantaged children.
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Chair Miriam Maes stated: “We are delighted with the appointment of Thecla Bodewes and Jacqueline Prins to the Port of Rotterdam Authority Supervisory Board. We find ourselves in the middle of a transition to a digital and climate-neutral port.
“Given the vast scope of this task, their exhaustive knowledge and experience within the nautical-maritime sector and government represent major added value.
“Their appointment further reinforces the board’s degree of expertise in the fields of technology, innovation, sustainability and its affinity with societal tasks, as well as in the area of diversity and inclusion within the Supervisory Board itself.”
