A Netherlands court has refused a request submitted by creditors of Gulf Navigation for the sale of an oil tanker seized in Rotterdam last month.

In a statement posted on the Dubai Financial Market yesterday, Gulf Navigation said that a judge in a Netherlands court had on Monday evening refused the creditors’ request for a court-mandated sale of the vessel. The judge directed the company and its creditors to come to an agreement on the fate of the vessel by the end of the month.

The Dubai-based company announced on September 16 that the Gulf Sheba had been arrested in the Dutch port while unloading its crude cargo. The arrest notice was served by the Norwegian bank DNB, an agent of the lenders for Gulf Sheba Corporation, a Gulf Navigation subsidiary, for default in repayment of interest and principal towards the end of July.

Gulf Navigation later said it had been in discussions with more than one potential buyer to sell both its oil tankers before the Gulf Sheba was seized, a fact remarked upon in the court’s judgement. The judge ruled that any sale of the company’s assets should be agreed by the company’s shareholders in accordance with UAE law.

jeverington@thenational.ae