Port deal cannot be undone, DP World tells US Congress

"We are not in a position now to stop this," said Edward Bilkey, chief operating officer of DP World, at a US Senate hearing.

Bilkey's company, which is owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, is buying the British-based Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. (P and O), which currently manages the ports, for 6.8 billion dollars.

After a firestorm of controversy over the sale, his company this week offered a 45-day delay to allow another look at the transaction, but Bilkey said the review will not impede the acquisition, which is become final on March 2.

At the hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, the ports executive also expressed frustration about the flap, saying his firm had acted properly and "in good faith" in seeking to purchase P and O.

"I respectfully submit that DP World is a company that in good faith sought to comply with applicable US legal requirements, and having been told by the US government that we met those requirements, now finds itself in the position of being told that that was not good enough," Bilkey said.

"The United States government, through successive administrations, has pursued a policy of encouraging investment in the United States," Bilkey continued.

"The assumptions underlying this policy are that the United States is a land governed by the rule of law, is a country that treats people fairly, and on an even playing field, and is a nation whose economic well-being and national security are enhanced by engaging with the world," he said.

Lawmakers have said the UAE firm's takeover of port operations carries a potential security risk, but US President George W. Bush has asserted that the US Coast Guard and Customs Service would still be in charge of security at the ports after the sale.

"If there was any doubt in my mind, or people in my administration's mind, that our ports would be less secure and the American people endangered, this deal wouldn't go forward," the president said Tuesday, and renewed his vow to veto proposed legislation in Congress to brake the deal.

The affected ports are in New York; Miami; Newark, New Jersey; Baltimore, Maryland; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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