UK court rules to protect DP World deal in Djibouti

LONDON: A court in the UK has ruled in favor of Dubai ports operator DP World over a case involving a disputed shipping terminal in Djibouti.
On Feb. 22, the Djibouti authorities seized control of the Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT) port from DP World, which had been awarded the concession in 2006.
In the run-up to the seizure, the Djibouti government had already attempted to force DP World to renegotiate the terms of the port concession.
But the High Court of England and Wales has granted an injunction restraining Djibouti’s port company, Port de Djibouti S.A. (PDSA), from treating its joint venture shareholders’ agreement with DP World as terminated, according to a Dubai Government statement issued Wednesday.
The court also prohibited PDSA from removing directors of the DCT joint venture company who were appointed by DP World, the statement said.
“PDSA is not to interfere with the management of DCT until further orders of the court or the resolution of the dispute by a London-seated arbitration tribunal,” the Dubai Government statement said.
“The High Court’s order follows the unlawful attempt by PDSA to terminate the joint venture agreement with DP World and the calling of an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on 9 September by PDSA to replace DP World-appointed directors.”
The legal ruling is the third in favor of DP World in the long-running dispute.
In August, Djibouti’s seizure of the Doraleh Container Terminal was ruled illegal by the London Court of International Arbitration.
The ruling will come as a blow to Djibouti and could potentially threaten the country’s ability to attract foreign investment in the future, analysts told Arab News at the time.
The Doraleh port has three berths and an annual capacity of 1.2 million 20-foot equivalent units of container traffic. Under the concession agreement, the Djibouti government had a
67 percent stake while DP World held 33 percent.