Marasi 28

LEGAL REPORT
Dubai World Tribunal “DWT”
rules on establishment of a limitation
fund in the UAE
By Brian Boahene
Partner, Ince&Co Middle East
In a landmark judgment, the DWT (a tribunal established
by Decree (57) of 2009 (“Decree 57”) to deal with
insolvency proceedings relating to Dubai World and its
subsidiaries) confirmed its jurisdiction over maritime disputes
by or against Dubai World entities and acknowledged
that a ship owner is entitled to establish a limitation
fund under the Convention on Limitation of Liability
for Maritime Claims 1976 (the “Convention”) by way of a
P&I Club letter of undertaking (“LOU”). The matter was
determined under UAE law.
By Natalie Jensen
Managing Associate, Ince&Co Middle East
Facts
In May 2017, the M/V CMA CGM CENTAURUS (“Vessel”)
allided with the Jebel Ali Container Terminal. The
owners and disponent owners of the Vessel (“Owners”)
filed a claim before the DWT against the operator of the
port and its parent company, both of which were Dubai
World subsidiaries (the “DPW Defendants”) and against
“all other persons claiming or being entitled to claim damages
for the incident”.
The judgment arose from interim applications made by
the parties:
(i) Owners sought a declaration of entitlement to constitute
a limitation fund under the Convention by way of
LOU; and
(ii) The DPW Defendants sought to set aside the claim
for want of jurisdiction and to stay the claim and declare
that, if the DWT did have jurisdiction, it would not
exercise jurisdiction.
In parallel, the DPW Defendants pursued claims against
Owners in London and Hong Kong. Both jurisdictions
have adopted the 1996 Protocol and 2015 amendments
to the Convention and have higher limits of limitation
than the UAE which has ratified the Convention but not
the amendments.
Issues
The DPW Defendants argued that:
i. The DWT had no jurisdiction to hear the limitation application
which raised issues of maritime law;
ii. The DWT had no jurisdiction to determine claims made
against Owners by defendants who were not Dubai
World entities;
iii. Owners were not entitled to start pre-emptive proceedings
invoking limitation of liability; and
iv. The DWT should refuse to exercise its jurisdiction, if
any, to establish a limitation fund because of uncertainty
concerning limitation funds in the UAE and
on the grounds of forum non conveniens, a doctrine
whereby courts may refuse to take jurisdiction over
matters where there is a more appropriate forum. The
DPW Defendants argued that England was a more appropriate
jurisdiction.
72 MAY - JUNE 2018