DUBAI // The US$2.85 million demanded by pirates as ransom for 22 crewmen on the hijacked cargo ship MV Albedo was raised in time for yesterday's deadline, a negotiator says.
Philanthropists, businessmen and relatives of the crewmen, along with the Malaysian owner of the ship, have put together the Dh10.4m and now must gather it together and hand it to the Somali raiders.
"We have got the funds from various donors in Pakistan," said Ahmed Chinoy, the chairman of the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee in Karachi, which is mediating with the pirates on behalf of the relatives.
"We have achieved that figure along with Malaysian help. Now we have to figure out how to get the money to one place and deliver it to the pirates.
"All this should be finalised within a week."
The pirates had extended the original April 26 deadline for payment to today.
Omid Khosrojerdi, the shipowner, had agreed to raise at least half of the total amount.
The cargo ship was hijacked in November 2010 in the Gulf of Aden after it left Jebel Ali for Kenya, with a crew of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Sri Lankans, Indians and an Iranian. One Indian sailor died due to lack of medicine.
The pirates initially demanded $10m as ransom but the amount was reduced after Mr Chinoy travelled to Dubai in March to lead talks as the head of the independent citizens' action group. He met groups including businessmen who put him in touch with Somali tribal leaders. They helped with negotiations.
The campaign then hit several blocks. Two deadlines set by the pirates for last month were missed due to a shortfall of 150m Pakistani rupees (Dh6m).
Relatives rejoiced yesterday after hearing the target had been reached.
"I'm so excited and I'm confused too, because until yesterday we were still making appeals on national TV," said Nareman Jawaid, a Dubai resident and daughter of the ship's captain, Jawaid Khan. She waved goodbye to her father at Jebel Ali 18 months ago.
"If this is true the first thing I'd want to do is break out into a dance. If this is true, this is a miracle. But I will not truly believe it until my father is in front of me."
In the past two days Ishrat Ul Ebad Khan, the governor of Pakistan's Sindh province, joined the fund-raising efforts, calling for contributions from businessmen and philanthropists, Mr Chinoy said.
Groups of family members stood near busy Karachi roads and outside mosques, and appealed on television and radio programmes.
In Dubai, Ms Jawaid set up a Facebook page and the website save-mvalbedo.com with updates about the crew, families and fund-raising.
It is unclear how long it would take for the crew to be freed, but the Pakistan government yesterday said it hoped it would be quick.
An appeal on Pakistan's Geo TV by Hira Mujtaba, daughter of Mujtaba, the chief officer on the MV Albedo, tugged at the heartstrings of the nation.
"They can do anything to my father," said Hira, 8, choking back tears. "I will die without my Papa. I appeal to Zardari uncle [the president] because the deadline is near."
The Pakistani minister of interior Rehman Malik said president Asif Ali Zardari had heard her appeal.
Hira's mother Neelam said she took her three daughters and son Mohammed, 15 months, on fund-raising drives so the public would not forget the hostages.
"My Hira has always said that she doesn't want to live if her father dies," said Mrs Mujtaba, adding her husband had yet to see his son.
"We read, we pray and recite the Quran every minute. Our lives, mine and my children's, have stopped until he returns."
rtalwar@thenational.ae
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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.”
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