DUBAI // Somali pirates were yesterday holding a UAE tanker with its 16 crew and 3,500 tonnes of oil worth Dh17 million.
The MV Jubba XX was hijacked on Saturday in the Indian Ocean en route from Umm al Qaiwain to Berbera in Somaliland, the autonomous northern region of Somalia.
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On board were the captain, from Sri Lanka, with five crewmen from India, four from Somalia, three from Bangladesh and one each from Kenya, Myanmar and Sudan.
The 4,800-tonne vessel’s owners, Jubba General Trading of Sharjah, and its managers, Emirates Shipping Company in Umm al Qaiwain, have not been able to make contact with the ship since it was hijacked.
“We called all day and got no response,” Omar Alkheir, the general manager of Emirates Shipping, said yesterday.
The tanker left Umm al Qaiwain three weeks ago and was travelling on its regular route.
It had not registered with the Maritime Security Centre-Horn of Africa, the counter-piracy unit of the EU Naval Force (Eu Navfor) that tracks the whereabouts of commercial vessels.
A maritime patrol aircraft sighted the tanker on Sunday morning about 100 nautical miles northwest of Socotra Island, heading towards the northern Somali coast. Nine pirates are believed to be on board, EU Navfor said.
The MV Jubba XX is the first Jubba General Trading ship to be hijacked, the company’s managing director Abdi Ali Farah said. The firm has nine employees and owns two oil tankers and three cargo vessels, which usually travel to the Somali ports of Mogadishu, Bossaso and Berbera.
So far this year Somali pirates have hijacked 21 ships and taken 362 hostages. They currently hold 23 ships and 439 hostages, according to the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre.
Including the MV Jubba XX, three of the hijacked ships are owned by UAE companies and two were travelling from the UAE. About 100 crew members from these vessels are being held hostage.
The MV Iceberg I, owned by the Dubai company Azal Shipping, is the longest-held hijacked vessels. Since it was seized in March 2010, two of its 24 crewmen have been reported dead.
The Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney has said he will visit Dubai on Friday to try to meet the owners of the MV Iceberg I and help to secure its release.
His organisation recently helped to raise the Dh7.7 million ransom to release another ship held by Somali pirates, the MV Suez.
Meanwhile confusion surrounded another UAE ship with a cargo goats said by the news outlet Somalia Report to have been seized last Thursday and released on Sunday.
The vessel was hijacked 35 miles outside the port of Bossaso in Puntland, from where it had set sail, said Abdi Samatar, general director of the Puntland ministry for maritime transports, ports and counter-piracy.
Three days later it was freed and is now on its way to Dubai, the vice minister Mohamed Isse Lacle told Somalia Report.
The exact name of the ship is uncertain, and it does not appear to be registered with the UN International Maritime Organisation, as most vessels are, the Somalia Report editor Michael Logan said. Reports have listed it as the MV Al Nasri, MV Al Nisar, MV Al Nasir and MV Al Isham.
The Somalia report said the shipowner was in the UAE, but the Kenya-based piracy monitoring group Ecoterra said it was Indian-owned.
No vessel carrying goats from Bossaso is expected in the coming days in Hamriya Port in Dubai or in the ports of Umm al Qaiwain or Ajman, employees said.
chuang@thenational.ae
Understand What Black Is
The Last Poets
(Studio Rockers)
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
More coverage from the Future Forum
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm
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Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Top speed: 250kph
Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: Dh146,999
Tips to keep your car cool
- Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
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- Add tint to windows
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- Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
- Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Haltia.ai
Started: 2023
Co-founders: Arto Bendiken and Talal Thabet
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: AI
Number of employees: 41
Funding: About $1.7 million
Investors: Self, family and friends
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 299hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 420Nm at 2,750rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 12.4L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh157,395 (XLS); Dh199,395 (Limited)
Paris Can Wait
Dir: Eleanor Coppola
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane, Arnaud Viard
Two stars
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Company Profile
Name: HyveGeo
Started: 2023
Founders: Abdulaziz bin Redha, Dr Samsurin Welch, Eva Morales and Dr Harjit Singh
Based: Cambridge and Dubai
Number of employees: 8
Industry: Sustainability & Environment
Funding: $200,000 plus undisclosed grant
Investors: Venture capital and government
Zayed Sustainability Prize
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
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DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
ELECTION RESULTS
Macron’s Ensemble group won 245 seats.
The second-largest group in parliament is Nupes, a leftist coalition led by Jean-Luc Melenchon, which gets 131 lawmakers.
The far-right National Rally fared much better than expected with 89 seats.
The centre-right Republicans and their allies took 61.
FA Cup quarter-final draw
The matches will be played across the weekend of 21 and 22 March
Sheffield United v Arsenal
Newcastle v Manchester City
Norwich v Derby/Manchester United
Leicester City v Chelsea
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The five pillars of Islam