DUBAI // Two dozen crewmen of an oil tanker that has been stranded in Dubai waters for several months - and left for weeks without drinking water or power - have been flown to their home countries.
The Filipino and South Koreans aboard the MV Samho Dream had been unpaid after the company that owns the South Korean vessel, Samho Shipping, went bankrupt in April. The sailors also lacked the papers to enter UAE territory.
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Stuck on board and unable to refrigerate or cook food, some men had begun to lose weight and experience dizziness. About a week ago, their internet and satellite phone had been cut off, limiting their communications to nearby ships via radio, Capt Abdullah Al Hayyas, a representative from the Dubai Maritime City Authority (DMCA), said. Capt Al Hayyas had led an inspection of the vessel.
After seeing the "harsh conditions" on the ship, the authorities arranged the paperwork for the crew to come ashore and arranged medical attention for those suffering illness.
"We had to act swiftly for them to be brought ashore and cared for," said Khalid Meftah, the DMCA director of maritime corporate development.
The government body, which oversees the maritime sector, worked with the police, international authorities and private firms to take care of the crew, Mr Meftah said.
Dubai experiences at least a dozen cases a year of shipowners running out of money and leaving their vessels and crews stranded without pay, said the Rev Stephen Miller, until recently the head of the Dubai branch of the international NGO Mission to Seafarers. He worked on the MV Samho Dream and had worked on similar cases in the emirate for 10 years before transferring to Hong Kong last month.
The recession has hurt international shipping, he said.
"Obviously after the downturn of 2008-2009, there were many companies on the border, and they were the ones that went under."
Samho Shipping suffered a serious financial hit last November as they reportedly paid a record US$9million (Dh33m) ransom to free the MV Samho Dream from Somali pirates last November.
It had been held for six months.
Just two months later, in January this year, pirates hijacked another one of its vessels, the MV Samho Jewelry, a 20,000-tonne tanker carrying chemicals. South Korean naval forces were deployed to rescue this ship and all 21 crew members were freed, though the captain suffered a gunshot wound. Five pirates were also captured and face trial in South Korea.
Two other ships owned by the firm are also stranded in Dubai waters, the Samho Crown crude oil tanker and the Samho Jasper, a chemical tanker.
chuang@thenational.ae
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
Dubai World Cup factbox
Most wins by a trainer: Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor(9)
Most wins by a jockey: Jerry Bailey(4)
Most wins by an owner: Godolphin(9)
Most wins by a horse: Godolphin’s Thunder Snow(2)
Wenger's Arsenal reign in numbers
1,228 - games at the helm, ahead of Sunday's Premier League fixture against West Ham United.
704 - wins to date as Arsenal manager.
3 - Premier League title wins, the last during an unbeaten Invincibles campaign of 2003/04.
1,549 - goals scored in Premier League matches by Wenger's teams.
10 - major trophies won.
473 - Premier League victories.
7 - FA Cup triumphs, with three of those having come the last four seasons.
151 - Premier League losses.
21 - full seasons in charge.
49 - games unbeaten in the Premier League from May 2003 to October 2004.
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.”
