We owe many aspects of modern life to the estimated 1.2 million seafarers who take to its oceans. This diverse and global army of men and women ensure, even amid the disruption of a pandemic, that we are never short of the goods that sustain day-to-day existence. Their sacrifice – often months in tough conditions at sea away from their families – too often goes unrecognised.
Recent events off the coast of Umm Al Quwain demonstrate how many seafarers remain vulnerable. Five crew members aboard the MT Iba were left stranded after its owner, Alco Shipping Services, found itself in financial difficulties. Their ordeal lasted 43 months. They had not been paid since 2018.
On Tuesday, a solution was reached after the sailors accepted a $165,000 settlement. They will now return home. Despite this isolated success, there will be more seafarers who are marooned in a similar manner. The Covid-19 crisis has pushed maritime abandonment numbers to record levels, with 2020 rates more than double those of 2019, The situation is so bad that both Pope Francis and the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres have spoken up about the issue.
A lack of regulation on the seas poses many dangers, including to the environment. Reuters
Maritime bodies struggle to create, implement and enforce laws that govern the shipping sector and the seas
Not enough is being done internationally to protect sailors stranded through no fault of their own. Companies who run into trouble appear to be under little legal obligation to solve the subsequent personal havoc wrought on their crews and instead choose to wash their hands of responsibility. Sailors are left having to rely on charity, as are their families at home.
The issue is difficult to solve. Maritime bodies struggle to create, implement and enforce laws that govern the complex international shipping sector and the seas.
It is possible to make improvements. In July 2020, ministers from various countries struck a deal at the International Maritime Crew Change Summit that expressed their commitment to resolving the many complex issues affecting mariners as a result of the pandemic.
Only frameworks with international reach will work, given the global nature of shipping. While such agreements are notoriously difficult to strike, not doing so poses a serious danger.
In Yemen, the Iran backed Houthi rebels continue to hold hostage the FSO Safer, a stranded oil tanker. The vessel, in serious disrepair and carrying a huge amount of oil, could explode at any moment, endangering the water supply and ecosystem of the Red Sea. The 45-year-old vessel is disintegrating by the day and a dedicated skeleton crew of five to seven people is keeping it on life support without access to replacement parts. Estimates suggest than an oil spill from the ship could be up to four times the size of 1989's Exxon Valdez disaster. Such an event would destroy the area's unique coral reef, prevent aid reaching Yemen and possibly jeopardise the desalination plants that neighbouring states rely heavily on for their freshwater supplies. In the meantime, while the Houthis delay its repair by the UN, the Safer's crew is in the most imminent danger.
Today's legal limbo on the seas endangers our security, economies and environment. Not addressing it is a disservice to all, particularly the seafarers on whom we rely so heavily.
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The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
Saturday: Nas, Lion Bbae, Roxanne Shante and DaniLeigh
Sole DXB runs from December 6 to 8 at Dubai Design District. Weekend pass is Dh295 while a one day pass is Dh195. Tickets are available from www.soledxb.com
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister. "We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know. “All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.” It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins. Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement. The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Favourite books: Ihsan Abdel Quddous books, such as “The Sun will Never Set”
Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry
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