ABU DHABI // Its light once guided ships away from danger as they sailed in and out of the Strait of Hormuz.
But over the past 40 years, the lighthouse on Greater Tunb has fallen into neglect, its guiding beam flickering and fading away.
At 24 metres, the white lighthouse, built in 1914 by the British, was the tallest object on the island. Its light was powered by gas and rotated by a weight-driven mechanism that had to be reset each day.
As a former engineer for the Middle East Navigation Aids Service (Menas), Mike Colwill is one of the few people to have not only visited the lighthouse in its heyday, but to have climbed regularly to its top.
From there, says the 68-year-old Briton, "I had a full view of the island, and could see all the way to the fishermen and their boats along its coast".
Mr Colwill is now the general manager at the National Oil Maintenance Works and Executions oil field service company, based in Abu Dhabi.
But back in the late 1960s he was a mechanical engineer on the LT Relume, a 400-tonne ship run by Menas. Based in Bahrain, Menas began as the Persian Gulf Lighting Service around the time of the first oil exports from Abadan in 1911, with the aim of providing safe navigation in the Gulf.
It set up lightbuoys in strategic positions along the Gulf, including the Shatt Al Arab (1914) and beyond. As early as 1922, it fixed buoys at the approaches to ports such as Bahrain.
Since the 1960s, it has also helped operate land-based radio navigation stations along the Gulf.
Mr Colwill joined in 1966, the same year the service was renamed Menas, and worked there until 1970. "Our job was to make sure the navigational aids like lighthouses and buoys along the Arabian Gulf all worked properly," said Mr Colwill.
"We were like coast guards for the Arabian Gulf."
The Menas ships would have four to five British engineers on board, along with a largely Indian crew of 40.
On the same ship as Mr Colwill was a 40-year-old Greater Tunb native known as Khalfie, who worked as the deck hand.
"He was a delightful fellow who always smiled and liked to guide us whenever we landed on his island," said Colwill.
"We used to deliver bottled gas to the island every two months or so, and also resupply the lighthouse crew of six men living near the lighthouse with provisions."
Having visited Greater Tunb a dozen times or more, Mr Colwill fondly remembers a "quiet life" long gone.
"After the captain of the ship paid his respects, first by visiting the elder or sheikh of the island - often carrying a gift like tinned cheese - we would head ashore and do our job on the lighthouse."
Because there were no cars on the island, the crew had to hire donkeys to transport the provisions. That done, they would spend a day or two relaxing on the island, diving and fishing with the locals.
"It was one of the most peaceful and tranquil islands I have ever visited," said Mr Colwill.
"There was such an abundance of fish there that the waters around the island were always colourful and lively."
Crayfish were particularly bountiful, and Mr Colwill would often be asked by those on shore to bring some back from his island visits.
"We would put on our mechanic gloves, goggles and flippers, fish for a dozen of crayfish and simply enjoy the dive surrounded by marine life." The ship's crew would barbeque the fish and enjoy small talk with the residents for a day or two, before taking to the seas. British surveillance aircraft also regularly patrolled the area.
But in 1971, that peaceful, convivial routine came to an abrupt end. When the British withdrew from the Trucial Coast, just a day before the union of the emirates, Iranian forces moved in.
"I was in Abu Dhabi when it happened," said Mr Colwill.
"I was very sad to hear that the tranquil life on the island that I loved so much was gone." At the time, he said, there was a protest in Abu Dhabi against the invasion. Menas continued to maintain the Tunb lighthouse until 1974, after which it fell under Iranian control.
Mr Colwill now doubts Iran will voluntarily return the island.
"Why should they?" he said. "It is a wonderful island and of great strategic significance.
"I will always remember the people of the island, their kindness and their hospitality, and those wonderful days of fishing and sitting near the sea."
rghazal@thenational.ae
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RESULTS
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
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'Manmarziyaan' (Colour Yellow Productions, Phantom Films)
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal
Rating: 3.5/5
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
F1 drivers' standings
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 281
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 222
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 177
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 138
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 93
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
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Cherry
Directed by: Joe and Anthony Russo
Starring: Tom Holland, Ciara Bravo
1/5
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
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RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
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heading
Iran has sent five planeloads of food to Qatar, which is suffering shortages amid a regional blockade.
A number of nations, including Iran's major rival Saudi Arabia, last week cut ties with Qatar, accusing it of funding terrorism, charges it denies.
The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40% of Qatar's food comes, has been closed.
Meanwhile, mediators Kuwait said that Qatar was ready to listen to the "qualms" of its neighbours.
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
India squad
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
Results
Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
