Maersk Line Lost Two Years Legal Tussle To ICTSI Over Durban Container Terminal Dispute

A South African court has dismissed a case by AP Moller-Maersk to halt the award of a Durban Container terminal to ICTSI

AP Moller-Maersk has failed in its bid to half award of a tender by South Africa’s Transnet to Philippines-based International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) to run the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) Pier 2, South Africa’s busiest shipping container handling facility.

Ending a legal dispute since July 2023, the Durban High Court, last week, dismissed Maersk’s case which was welcome by ICTSI as an “affirmation of [a] fair and transparent tender process”.

The legal dispute arose when ICTSI was awarded the tender for a majority deal of a new partnership deal in the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2.

“This clarifies that the awarding of the tender to ITCSI to run the Durban Container Terminal Pier 2 was fair and transparent,” said Hans-Ole Madsen, regional head at ICTSI.

According to the statement, the court criticised Maersk’s decision to wait until March 2024 to bring the challenge, even though the concession was awarded to ICTSI in July 2023. The court noted this was an “undue delay” and that Maersk’s application failed on this basis.

Durban Container Terminal’s Pier 2 handles 72% of the port’s total throughput and 46% of South Africa’s container volumes.

The agreement between Transnet and ICTSI will allow significant investment into the skills and infrastructure at the port, to the benefit of South Africa’s economy.