"" Credit: © Robin Utrecht

The Rotterdam Maritime Capital of Europe partners announced on 7 October 2026 that they will extend their collaboration by four more years. Rotterdam Partners, the City of Rotterdam, Smart Delta Drechtsteden, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Province of South Holland will continue their joint efforts to position the maritime region of South Holland as a leading international maritime cluster. The partnership, which started in 2017, will therefore continue through 2030.

Since the start of the partnership, the message “Welcome to Rotterdam. Maritime Capital of Europe.” has been used to promote the region internationally. It highlights a unique maritime ecosystem in which the port, maritime industry, business services, knowledge institutions and governments work closely together.

Over the past years, the partners, together with companies and industry associations have invested in international marketing, trade promotion, acquisition and setting up strategic international partnerships for knowledge development. This has included trade missions to Norway, Singapore, Hamburg, hosting international delegations and strengthening knowledge exchange and business networks with maritime regions worldwide. Since 2024, 23 international maritime companies have established or expanded their presence in the Rotterdam region.

Building on these efforts, the partners will continue to strengthen international relationships, develop strategic collaborations and further increase the visibility of the maritime ecosystem in the years ahead.

Together with regional partners, they will focus on investment attraction, trade promotion, knowledge exchange and international profiling, with particular attention to maritime hotspots that are strategically important to the region, including Northern Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Oslo region, Singapore and the United Kingdom.

By extending the collaboration, the partners reaffirm their shared ambition to strengthen the international competitiveness of the region and further establish its position as the Maritime Capital of Europe.