Port collaboration is a recurring theme in port policy development. In 2013, among other things, earlier research was carried out on behalf of the former Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, which looked at collaboration opportunities between ports from a more theoretical perspective. In the context of the development of a new port policy in the Havennota 2020-2030, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment has requested a more practical look at opportunities for collaboration and the role of the government in this be taken, partly due to some new and groundbreaking developments in the field of port collaboration, such as the merger between Zeeland. Seaports and the Port of Ghent.