Frontline says emergency arbitrator dimissed all Euronav’s claims

Norwegian tanker shipping heavyweight Frontline announced that the Emergency Arbitration claims filed by its Belgian counterpart Euronav have been fully dismissed by the Emergency Arbitrator. 

“The decision was issued today, and in addition to fully dismissing the claims, orders Euronav to pay to Frontline all costs of the Emergency Arbitration proceedings, including full compensation for legal costs incurred,” Frontline said.

“This decision strengthens Frontline’s position that its decision to terminate the combination agreement was entirely lawful.”

Euronav was eagerly anticipating the decision on emergency arbitration against Frontline as the ruling is expected to shed light upon which clauses from the combination agreement signed in July last year need to remain in place before a decision on the merits of the agreement termination is made.

The company filed for emergency arbitration in mid-January. The company has also filed a request for arbitration on the merits of Frontline’s termination of the planned combination between the two companies, as it believes the decision was unfounded.

Meanwhile, Euronav has invited its shareholders to the Special General Meeting which has been scheduled for March 23. The meeting is being convened on the request of its shareholder Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) which is seeking to replace the entire Supervisory Board in the aftermath of the botched merger.

 CMB was against the merger plans at the outset and is now seeking to dismiss the entire board and replace them with members nominated by CMB.

Euronav described the request as ‘unprecedented’ by a minority shareholder, adding that the company has reached out to CMB for more details on their strategy and intentions for Euronav. The tanker owner is not on board with the board replacement idea and is seeking a constructive discussion with all its shareholders including CMB.