Lawmaker: Ehrlich could stop port sale

Transfer to Arab firm has politicians scrambling to criticize deal

Friday, Feb. 24, 2006

ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has the power to cancel a deal that would allow a company owned by the United Arab Emirates to take over the operations of the Port of Baltimore, a state lawmaker said Thursday.

‘‘In our port, it really is a minimum disruption to do it [cancel the contract], if you want to do it,” said Del. Peter V.R. Franchot, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee panel that reviews the port’s budget.

The state already owns the Seagirt and Dundalk marine terminals and the heavy equipment used to load and unload freighters, said Franchot (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park.

Ehrlich spokesman Henry P. Fawell could not confirm Franchot’s assertions, referring questions to the port.

But he did say Ehrlich (R) planned ‘‘tough questions” for federal officials about the $6.8 billion deal, which would transfer the operations from a British company, Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co. of London, to Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the UAE government.

‘‘He’s not going to make rash decisions,” Fawell said.

P&O is one of about five stevedoring firms at the port, said Jack Cahalan, a Transportation Department spokesman.

Lawmakers in Annapolis and Washington are skittish about the deal. One of the Sept. 11 hijackers came from UAE. And the country was one of the few to recognize and support the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D-Dist. 4) of Mitchellville said Thursday that he opposes the deal.

‘‘As outlined by security experts, the company would have carte blanche-like power to secure hundreds of visas to relocate managers and employees,” Wynn said in a statement.

Terrorists could influence low-level managers to provide visas to al Qaeda sympathizers, he said.

Last week, Rep. C.A. ‘‘Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-Dist. 2) of Cockeysville called for congressional hearings into the sale.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that secret conditions of the agreement called for DP World to cooperate with U.S. investigations.

‘‘The more people learn about the transaction that has been scrutinized and approved by my government,” President Bush said, ‘‘the more they’ll be comforted that our ports will be secure.”

People were not concerned about port security when a British company was running the port operation, the president said, but they felt differently about an Arab company at the helm. He said the United Arab Emirates is a valuable partner in the war on terror.

The furor over the sale is similar to last year’s backlash over the sale of Unocal Corp. to a Chinese oil company, CNOOC Ltd. Eventually, Chevron Corp. outbid CNOOC.

The unease over the transaction spilled over into a routine Maryland budget hearing on Thursday.

Franchot asked Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan to comment on Ehrlich’s ability to cancel Dubai Ports’ contract.

Flanagan refused to answer, saying the matter would be the subject of a hearing today before the Senate Finance and House Environmental Matters committees, Franchot said.

Because security was part of the port’s budget, Franchot said he insisted Flanagan, appearing with Port Director F. Brooks Royster III, answer the questions.

‘‘They stonewalled me, so I gaveled the meeting to an end,” said Franchot, a Democratic candidate for state comptroller.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, asked Ehrlich to sign with him a letter to Bush objecting to the sale. Ehrlich dismissed the letter as a ‘‘political document.”

O’Malley’s campaign sent out a petition asking supporters to join him in opposing the sale of the port operations to a company owned by a foreign government.

Staff Writer Thomas Dennison contributed to this report.