The press statement graphic that the Somaliland Ports Authority posted on X on November 11, 2026, rejecting the Djibouti claim about training of Berbera Port staff. Credit: Somaliland Ports Authority (@PortsSomaliland) on X.
The Somaliland Ports Authority says Djibouti’s port authority falsely claimed that 11 senior Berbera Port staff received six months of training in Djibouti, and called on Djibouti to withdraw the claim.
The Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) made the claim in a post on X on November 3. According to the Somaliland statement and posts quoting it, the post described a Djibouti and Somalia delegation visit and said 11 senior Berbera staff had completed six months of engineering and operational training in Djibouti.
In a press statement posted early on Wednesday, the Somaliland Ports Authority said it strongly condemns and categorically rejects the claim, calling it false and misleading. It said that no Berbera Port staff took part in any such training and asked the DPFZA to withdraw the statement and publish a correction. Reporting by Horn Diplomat carried the same account.
The dispute sits inside a wider contest over Red Sea trade. Berbera competes with Djibouti for cargo, including trade for landlocked Ethiopia, and Somaliland and Somalia dispute who may speak for Berbera. The DPFZA post listed Berbera among the ports it counted in its regional partnerships, and critics in Somaliland replied on X that Berbera is in Somaliland and not in Somalia.
Mereja Media found no reply, withdrawal or correction from the DPFZA on its X account by Wednesday evening. The claim of training and the Somaliland denial can only be tested with attendance records, which neither side has published.