Doraleh Container Terminal News

A London arbitration court has ordered Djibouti to restore DP World's right to operate the Doraleh Container Terminal as detailed under a 2006 concession deal within two months or pay damages, the state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.The government of Djibouti seized the terminal from Dubai government-controlled DP World in February 2018 over a dispute dating back to at least 2012.An independent expert has estimated the losses to DP World at more than $1 billion, WAM reported. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Jan Harvey)

Global ports operator DP World has struggled to borrow from banks to finance new investments since a port it partially owns in Djibouti was seized by the government there in 2018, its chairman said on Monday."We are investing but it is costing us more. That’s the damage," DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told Reuters in Rwanda's capital Kigali, where the company opened a $35 million logistics platform on Monday."Fewer banks will lend us money today," he said, without giving further details.

The global port operator DP World has accused the government of Djibouti of “complete disregard and contravention” of the global legal system as it plans to rule all international adjudications on the Doraleh Container Terminal null and void."A decision to be taken later this week by the government of Djibouti to apply to the country's high court to rule all previous international adjudications null and void is a complete disregard for and contravention of the global legal system and existing contracts," a DP World statement said.The move is proof of Djibouti’s complete disregard for recognized legal practice and respect for contracts calling into question any investment in the country both now and in the future…

Djibouti has nationalized the two-thirds stake in its Doraleh Container Terminal held by the Port of Djibouti, the government said in a statement, the latest twist in a dispute with Dubai's government-controlled DP World dating back six years.In February, Djibouti ended a contract with DP World, one of the world's biggest port operators, to run its Doraleh Container Terminal (DCT), and seized control of the terminal.A London court later said DP World's contract to run the terminal was still valid.The port of Djibouti, PDSA, is itself majority-owned by the Djibouti state and in turn owns a two-

DP World, the fourth biggest port operator globally, issued a response saying Djibouti’s refusal to acknowledge a London Court of International Arbitration ruling demonstrates that the government did not “recognize the international rule of law.”The Arbitral Tribunal of the London Court of International Arbitration, LCIA, confirmed the illegitimacy of the Government of Djibouti’s action of seizing control of the Doraleh Container Terminal from DP World."The Court’s decision upholding the continuing validity of the Concession is based on recognised principles of international law and is internationally binding both on the Djibouti government and so far as third parties are concerned…

DP World threatened legal action against Djibouti after the government of the Horn of Africa nation ended a contract this year with the Dubai-owned firm for running a port facility, the company's spokesman said on Thursday.Djibouti ended the contract in February with DP World to run its Doraleh Container Terminal.The Dubai-based company said it issued its statement after "reports of the opening of the first phase of the Chinese built International Free Trade Zone, in violation of DP World's exclusive management rights.""DP World reserves the right to take all available legal actions, including

The Dubai-based port operator DP World said that it will not consider alternative legal options outside a court settlement in a dispute with the Djibouti government over the Doraleh Container Terminal. A DP World spokesperson said that the concession agreement remains in place, and the action taken by the Djiboutian government is subject to legal process in the International court of Arbitration in London. “We await the outcome of this process. The Doraleh terminal has a capacity of 1.6 million TEUs per year. The Eastern African country took control of the Doraleh Container Terminal in February. The UAE denounced Djibouti’s termination of DP World’s concession, calling it an “arbitrary” breach of a signed agreement.

DP World has not received an offer from Djibouti to buy its stake in the Doraleh Container Terminal, a spokesman for the port operator said on Wednesday after a Djiboutian official said the stake could be bought. The DP World spokesman also said the Dubai-owned company would consider it illegal if any company entered into any agreement or arrangement with the Djiboutian government related to the terminal. "We consider such action to be illegal, and will pursue our legal rights against any such third parties,” he told Reuters in a statement.

Djibouti is in talks with French shipping company CMA CGM to develop a new container terminal at an initial cost of $660 million as part of the tiny African country's bid to expand into a sea and air transport hub for the continent. Aboubakar Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zone Authority (DPFZA), told Reuters on Tuesday that the authority hopes to award the concession in July. It was also prepared to buy out DP World's stake in an existing container terminal to end a row with the Dubai port operator and avoid arbitration, he said.

DP World, one of the world's largest port operators, said on Thursday it is committed to the port project in Somaliland despite Somalia's move to ban the ports operator from operating in Somalia. Djibouti's decision to end a contract with DP World to run its Doraleh Container Terminal will make it difficult for Africa to attract investment, DP World's chairman Sultan bin Sulayem told a news conference after reporting full-year earnings. He said the company doesn't know what motivated Djibouti to seize the container terminal.

Djibouti's container port will remain in state hands as the government seeks investment, a senior official said on Wednesday in comments likely to reassure Washington where lawmakers say they fear it could be ceded to China. The Doraleh Container Terminal is a key asset for Djibouti, a tiny state on the Red Sea whose location is of strategic value to countries such as the United States, China, Japan and former colonial power France, all of whom have military bases there. Djibouti last month terminated the concession of Dubai's state-owned DP World to run the port…

Somalia has banned Dubai ports operator DP World from operating in Somalia, saying that a contract that the company signed last year with the breakaway Somaliland region to develop an economic zone is null and void. It is unclear how Somalia's federal government could enforce the ban given Somaliland's semi-autonomous status. But parliament's unanimous passing of the resolution banning DP World from working in the country underscored growing rivalries in the strategic Horn of Africa region over the Dubai state-owned port operator's investments.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) condemned Djibouti’s cancellation of DP World’s contract to run the Doraleh Container Terminal, calling it an “arbitrary” flouting of a signed agreement, said a report in Bloomberg. Media reports yesterday said that Dubai has accused Djibouti of illegally seizing a port operated by one of its state-owned shipping companies and started legal action against the African government. “Djibouti government’s seizure of the Doraleh port is regrettable,’’ Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash wrote on Twitter. According to a press statement from DP World, the Government of Djibouti illegally seized control of the Doraleh Container Terminal from a Dubai Ports World (DP World) owned entity that designed…

Dubai-based port operator DP World accused Djibouti of illegally seizing control of Doraleh Container Terminal on Thursday, after the Djibouti government said it was unilaterally terminating DP World's contract to run the terminal.   "The Government of Djibouti today illegally seized control of the Doraleh Container Terminal," DP World said in a statement. It said the company had commenced arbitration proceedings in London to protect its rights.   Reporting by Katie Paul

Djibouti has ended a contract with Dubai's DP World, one of the world's biggest port operators, to run its Doraleh Container Terminal, the president's office said on Thursday. "The Republic of Djibouti has decided to proceed with the unilateral termination with immediate effect of the concession contract awarded to DP World," the office of President Ismail Omar Guelleh said in a statement. Last February, the London Court of International Arbitration cleared DP World of all charges of misconduct over a concession to operate the terminal, Dubai's government said at the time.

The London Court of International Arbitration has cleared DP World, one of the world's biggest port operators, of all charges of misconduct over a concession to operate a container terminal in Djibouti, Dubai's government said on Tuesday. In 2014 the government of the East African country lodged claims accusing DP World, majority-owned by the Dubai government, of illegal payments to secure a 50-year concession for the Doraleh Container Terminal, the Dubai government said. On Tuesday the court dismissed the claims and ordered the claimants to bear the costs of the arbitration, Dubai said.

Djibouti said it had started legal action against DP World, seeking to rescind the Dubai-owned port operator's concession in Africa's largest container terminal in a row over how the contract was awarded. "The resulting agreement unfairly favoured DP World," the government said in a statement, which questioned payments made in winning the concession in 2000. DP World said it rejected Djibouti's allegations. "We categorically reject the accusations and will vigorously defend our position during arbitration," a company spokesperson told Reuters by email.