Low visibility freezes navigation

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

25 Feb 2010

Kuwait Ports Authority said yesterday that navigation was on a stand still due to low visibility caused by dust and that would remain until conditions get better. Visibility is one mile, Director of Navigation Operation at Shuwaikh Port Captain Suleiman Al-Yahya said. Due to low visibility, navigation froze to ensure safety of ships and ports, he said, adding that a vessel carrying passengers were recalled to the port where a cargo ship was stopped from taking off the port. Navigation also stopped
at Shuaiba's and Doha's port for the same reasons, officials at the ports said.
Soldiers to be freed
KUWAIT: Kuwait Army Chief of Staff Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khaled Al-Sabah issued a decision yesterday to free disciplinary detained military staff during the upcoming 49th and 19th National and Liberation Days respectively. The decision came upon directions from First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, said a Kuwaiti Army statement. It added that the kind gesture would enable soldiers and military staff to celebrate the national occasions with their folks and
loved ones.
Zain to focus on Mideast
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti telecoms firm Zain, which is selling its African assets to India's Bharti Airtel, will concentrate on the Gulf and Middle East region and is open to new investments, its chief executive said yesterday. On Feb 16, Zain said it would pocket up to $5 billion from the planned sale of its African assets, excluding Sudan and Morocco, to Bharti Airtel in a $9 billion deal and use the rest to pay down debt. Nabil bin Salama, who took over the chief executive post earlier this month, said returns fr
om the sale of most of its African assets will provide it with the cash for possible new investments. He said the company sees great growth opportunities in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Bharti and Zain are in exclusive talks until March 25 for the Kuwaiti firm's operations in 15 African countries. Bin Salama said Zain has gained a strong foothold in the Middle Eastern market during its expansion period under the group's outgoing chief executive Saad Al-Barrak. Its client base in seven Arab countries is o
ver 31 million, he said.
UAE uncovers more suspects
DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has identified four more suspects who carried fraudulent British and Irish passports in the Dubai killing of a Hamas commander, a source familiar with the investigation said yesterday. The use of passports from European Union countries by the killers of Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh has drawn censure from the bloc. Dubai has accused Israel of being behind the assassination, but the Israeli foreign minister has said there was no proof his country carried out the killing. "The UAE has i
dentified two British suspects holding British travel documents and as part of the ongoing investigation has shared the information with the British government," the source in the UAE said. Two more suspects in the killing of Mabhouh in a hotel in January were identified as holding Irish passports, the source added.

Source: Kuwait Times