Asma Alsharif News

A London arbitration court has ordered Djibouti to restore DP World's right to operate the Doraleh Container Terminal as detailed under a 2006 concession deal within two months or pay damages, the state news agency WAM reported on Tuesday.The government of Djibouti seized the terminal from Dubai government-controlled DP World in February 2018 over a dispute dating back to at least 2012.An independent expert has estimated the losses to DP World at more than $1 billion, WAM reported. (Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by Jan Harvey)

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that clear and convincing evidence was needed to apportion blame for attacks last month on four oil tankers off its coast, and that tensions in the region needed to be dialled down.The United States and Saudi Arabia have publicly blamed Iran for that attack and a subsequent one on two vessels in the Gulf of Oman. Tehran has denied any involvement.The UAE has submitted the results of an investigation into the first attack, which showed that a state entity was behind them, without naming the country.If a country was to be identified, "this evidence must be clear and precise and scientific and convincing for the international community…

The United States is building a coalition with its allies to protect Gulf shipping lanes by having "eyes on all shipping", a senior U.S. State Department official said on Monday, following recent attacks on oil tankers that Washington blamed on Iran.The official told reporters en route to the United Arab Emirates that a coalition of nations would provide both material and financial contributions to the "Sentinel" program, but did not name the countries."It's about proactive deterrence, because the Iranians just want to go out and do what they want to do and say hey we didn't do it. We know what they've done," he said, adding that the deterrents would include cameras, binoculars and ships. (Reuters, Reporting by Asma Alsharif and Ghaida Ghantous, Editing by William Maclean)

Saudi Arabia's cabinet urged the international community on Tuesday to take firm measures to ensure the safety of navigation in waterways across the region, the state news agency said, a week after two tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman.Reporting by Asma Alsharif

Abu Dhabi Ship Building and Italy's Leonardo signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to work together to create a combat-management system (CMS) for the United Arab Emirate's navy ships, state news agency WAM reported.The companies will work jointly on an integration laboratory capable of testing, maintaining and evolving the software of Leonardo's combat-management system, which is operational on more than 20 of the UAE Navy's ships, WAM said.The agreement also covers potential development of a joint logistic support solution for preventive and corrective maintenance and a local spare parts inventory for Leonardo naval systems.Reporting by Asma Alsharif and Alexander Cornwell

Yemen's government said Houthi rebels detained 10 oil and commercial vessels at Hodeidah port, Saudi Arabian state television said on Sunday.There was no immediate reaction from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group.(Reporting by Asma Alsharif Editing by Paul Tait)

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have signed agreements to specify maritime borders, a cabinet statement said on Saturday, allowing both countries to benefit from maritime zones that were previously untapped. The agreement was signed during Saudi Arabia's King Salman visit to Egypt during which several investment projects were announced. The technical drawing of the border include the Tiran and Sanafir islands as part of Saudi Arabia's territory, the statement said. In 1950, Saudi Arabia's founder King Abdulaziz Al Saud had requested Egypt to protect those islands which has been the case since then. Drawing up the maritime border for both countries had been in progress for over six years.

Egypt plans to complete a side channel in East Port Said, near the Suez Canal, that would speed up shipping and allow ships direct entry into the port by the end of June 2016, Mohab Memish, head of the Suez Canal Authority, said on Wednesday. The new channel dredging will cost $36 million, of which $7.5 million will be financed by the Suez Canal Container Terminal (SCCT), Memish said. SCCT is 55 percent owned by APM Terminals, part of Maersk Group. "We are building the side channel which will allow the ships to enter from open waters directly into East Port Said," said Memish at a news conference in Ismailiya. Currently vessels that come through East Port Said have to be coordinated with the Suez Canal convoy.

Revenue from Egypt's Suez Canal rose by 8.6 percent in July to $482.2 million from $443.9 million in June, Egypt's state information portal said on Monday. The waterway, the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia, is one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency. Reporting by Asma Alsharif

Armed militants killed two security staff and kidnapped a Chinese, an Algerian and a Sudanese worker in an attack on an oil field in Sudan's West Kordofan state, army spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa'ad said on Saturday. Security forces are still tracing the perpetrators, he added. West Kordofan is the main oil-producing state in Sudan. It has faced several attacks by armed militants attempting to disrupt production. The main rebel group active in the area, the Justice and Equality Movement, denied any involvement in the latest incident. (Reporting by Khaled Abdel Aziz, writing by Asma Alsharif; editing by Mark Trevelyan)