DUBAI // Thirty-four Indian sailors and four Pakistani crew have been stranded aboard two oil tankers for more than two months off the coast of Kandla, in west India, because of unpaid wages and a legal dispute between ship owners and a UAE chartering company.
One sailor tried to jump into the sea on Tuesday distressed that he had not sent money home because he had not been paid for six months.
Rations ran so low last week that the captains of Nautical Global VII and Nautical Global XVI made SOS calls to the Kandla port authority pleading for food and water.
Both tankers were “arrested”, or restricted to the area, on February 27 by an Indian court order after a maritime claim for damages was filed by the chartering company Nautical Global Ship Management, based in Dubai, against Ajman-based owners Gulf Shipping Services.
"The man was suffering because he talks to his daughter who is crying because there is no food to eat and he thinks, 'What is the use of being alive if I can't take care of a small child?' He was ready to jump when an alarm was raised and we reached him in time to talk to him," said Capt Suchittar Kumar Sharma, of Nautical Global XVI, from anchorage about 15 nautical miles from Kandla.
“We told him his life was more precious for his family.”
The man was finally convinced to step away but Capt Sharma remains worried about his 19-man crew.
“Life is hell. There is no sign of our money, our families are starving and the men want to go home. I am like a dead man right now,” Capt Sharma said.
After about 80 days at anchor, the men are anxious to disembark but with four to six months wages unpaid, they worry about forfeiting their salaries.
"Mentally and physically we are completely tired. When there was no food, the men got desperate and fights started," said Michael Kochikaran, captain of the Nautical Global VII, which has 18 men on board.
After the distress call last week, a boat with supplies of lentils, rice, bread, flour and eggs was sent to the vessels.
A court case filed by Nautical Global Ship Management in March detailed damages to faulty engines and equipment and asked the court to arrest the ship since it was unlikely that the owners would pay for the losses suffered.
The crew also filed a petition on their wages in the high court.
The Dubai charters office could not be reached, while the Mumbai branch office said the issue was being resolved.
“We are trying to get this cleared and hope it will be done in the next few days,” said Nitin Desai, general manager of Nautical Marine Management Services. “Permissions are required and that is taking time. The salaries of the crew are secure with the high court.”
Government officer Capt Sanat Kumar Shukla, with the mercantile marine department in Kandla, said the crew needed to be taken care of.
“They are in bad shape. They remain on board because they are worried they will forfeit lodging [wages] because if it is an abandoned ship then things become complicated,” he said.
Joseph Chako, from the Kandla Seafarers Welfare Association, said in previous similar cases sailors were not paid.
“The sailors are still struggling to get their salary. The crew are caught between the owners and the charter agents. Basically all they want to do is go home.”
rtalwar@thenational.ae
Health Valley
Founded in 2002 and set up as a foundation in 2006, Health Valley has been an innovation in healthcare for more than 10 years in Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
It serves as a place where companies, businesses, universities, healthcare providers and government agencies can collaborate, offering a platform where they can connect and work together on healthcare innovation.
Its partners work on technological innovation, new forms of diagnostics and other methods to make a difference in healthcare.
Its agency consists of eight people, four innovation managers and office managers, two communication advisers and one director. It gives innovation support to businesses and other parties in its network like a broker, connecting people with the right organisation to help them further
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Sreesanth's India bowling career
Tests 27, Wickets 87, Average 37.59, Best 5-40
ODIs 53, Wickets 75, Average 33.44, Best 6-55
T20Is 10, Wickets 7, Average 41.14, Best 2-12
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
