Peter van Rijn never thought that he would be the captain of the world's first methanol-powered vessel, which has been hailed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as a “milestone” in the shipping industry's drive towards decarbonisation.
As he stood on Thursday on the bridge of the Laura Maersk in the port of Copenhagen, Mr van Rijn said that he felt the weight of history as well as the hopes of a new generation that views fighting climate change as one of its top priorities.
“Shipping is quite conservative,” he told reporters on the day of the Laura Maersk's christening, which was attended by Ms von der Leyen and top Maersk executives.
“Now we have made the change, and this change is starting.”
The brand new 172-metre-long vessel, which can carry 21,000 containers weighing a little more than 32,000 tonnes, completed its maiden journey to the Danish port from Ulsen, South Korea, where it was built over the course of two years. It is now expected to be deployed in the Baltic Sea.
The Laura Maersk is named after the Danish shipping firm's first steam-powered vessel that set sail in 1886. Its name was chosen to reflect that it represents “an Industrial Revolution of a green character”, according to Maersk chairman Robert Uggla.
“I have a daughter, she's turning 17, and quite busy thinking about the future,” said Mr van Rijn, 55. “She said to me: what are you doing for the environment? I can give her an example now.”
Last year, Danish shipping giant Maersk unveiled a plan to gradually abandon the use of fuel oil to meet the greenhouse gas reduction targets set by the EU as part of the Paris Agreement.
The Laura Maersk will help reduce the firm's carbon dioxide emissions by 100 tonnes a day, compared to the same vessel running on fuel oil, according to the company. Close to 20 other such ships will set sail by 2025.
Most of its crew, including Rounak Chatterjee, the ship's chief officer, shared the captain's excitement, saying there was “no point in being humble”.
“For the rest of time, this will be the first vessel [running on e-methanol] and I'll be the first chief officer on it,” he told The National.
“Human kind is borrowing from this planet.
“So it better start paying the debt back because one day, Mother Nature will come back for the debt and we will have nothing to pay her with.”
New challenges
Green methanol, also known as e-methanol, is composed of waste CO2 and “green hydrogen”, which is created by using renewable energy to split water molecules.
But switching to low-emission fuels comes with new challenges. Maersk's leaders have highlighted that current global production is below the industry's needs, while its cost is two to three times higher than conventional fuels.
Customers willing to pay for a so-called green premium are usually lifestyle companies that are close to customers, and Maersk has recently struck deals with Amazon and Volvo, said the shipping company's head of energy transition Morten Bo Christiansen.
The company is expecting green fuels to become more competitive in the future with new measures kicking in soon, including the EU's carbon tax, which will be enacted from 2027.
There are other challenges related to running a ship on e-methanol, a much more flammable liquid than traditional fuel.
E-methanol can catch fire at 11°C, whereas biodiesel's flame point is about 60°C, said the Laura Maersk's crew.
To avoid risks of fire, the ship's tanks are padded with nitrogen to remove oxygen, said chief engineer Flemming S Christensen.
The vessel also has dual-fuel engines. E-methanol needs to be ignited with a pilot fuel, which on the Laura Maersk is biodiesel.
Maersk currently ships 2.5 per cent of all its containers using biodiesel and wants to bring that figure up to 25 per cent by 2030.
Adapting to an e-methanol run ship was “confusing” at first, but “not that bad” after all for the crew, which benefitted from extra training in Finland, said Mr Christensen.
“Since we started up in Ulsen and until we hit Europe, we have actually been on methanol for 95 per cent of the time, which is – I would say – a huge accomplishment,” he added.
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
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.”
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations
Edited by Sarah Cleave, Comma Press
MATCH INFO
Osasuna 1 Real Madrid 4
Osasuna: García (14')
Real Madrid: Isco (33'), Ramos (38'), Vázquez (84'), Jovic (90' 2)
