The guided-missile submarine USS Florida moves through the Suez Canal in Egypt, on its way to support the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, on Friday. Reuters
The guided-missile submarine USS Florida moves through the Suez Canal in Egypt, on its way to support the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, on Friday. Reuters
The guided-missile submarine USS Florida moves through the Suez Canal in Egypt, on its way to support the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, on Friday. Reuters
The guided-missile submarine USS Florida moves through the Suez Canal in Egypt, on its way to support the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet, on Friday. Reuters

MENA

US Navy sends guided-missile submarine to Middle East

USS Florida sent to support Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain

The National

April 08, 2023

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  • Arabic

The US Navy said on Saturday that a nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine was operating in the Middle East in support of the Bahrain-based US Fifth Fleet.

The USS Florida entered the region on Thursday and began travelling the Suez Canal, Commander Timothy Hawkins said.

“It is capable of carrying up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles and is deployed to US Fifth Fleet to help ensure regional maritime security and stability,” Cmdr Hawkins said.

The US Fifth Fleet is a member of several international partnerships, such as the 10-member International Maritime Security Construct, which includes the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and others.

The Fifth Fleet patrols the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Arabian Gulf through which 20 per cent of the world's oil is transported. Its region includes the Bab Al Mandeb Strait off Yemen and the Red Sea stretching up to the Suez Canal, the Egyptian waterway linking the Middle East to the Mediterranean Sea.

The US, UK and Israel have accused Iran of targeting oil tankers and commercial ships in the Gulf region in recent years, allegations denied by Tehran. The US Navy has also reported a series of tense encounters at sea with Iranian forces that it said were being recklessly aggressive.

Last month, the US launched air strikes against Iran-backed forces in Syria after a rocket attack killed a US contractor and wounded seven other Americans in that country's north-east.

Tension has soared since former president Donald Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 agreement with world powers that provided sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its nuclear activities and placing them under enhanced surveillance.

Efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to restore the agreement hit a wall last year. The tension has worsened as Tehran has supplied attack drones to Russian forces in Ukraine — and as Israel and Iran have escalated their years-long shadow war in the Middle East.

In addition to drawing closer to Moscow, Tehran has sought improved relations with China, which brokered an agreement last month to restore diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

With reporting from agencies

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Sean Kirrane (jockey), Khalifa Al Neyadi (trainer)

5.30pm: Falaj Hazza – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Arim W’Rsan, Dane O’Neill, Jaci Wickham

6pm: Al Basrah – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Kalifano De Ghazal, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi, Helal Al Alawi

6.30pm: Oud Al Touba – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Pharitz Oubai, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami

7pm: Sieh bin Amaar – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Oxord, Richard Mullen, Abdalla Al Hammadi

7.30pm: Jebel Hafeet – Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: AF Ramz, Sean Kirrane, Khalifa Al Neyadi

8pm: Al Saad – Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Sea Skimmer, Gabriele Malune, Kareem Ramadan

Updated: April 08, 2023, 10:41 AM