ABU DHABI // Officials of foreign embassies said yesterday they had been unable to gather information about the events surrounding the deaths of seven workers in an oil rig helicopter crash off the coast of Dubai.
The families of two of the victims spoke out publicly for the first time, saying the silence about the deaths of their loved ones had intensified their grief and they were still trying to find out what led to the crash.
The seven dead - the British helicopter pilot and his Venezuelan co-pilot, and the five passengers from India, the US, the Philippines and Pakistan - were working at an oil field owned by Dubai Petroleum when their Bell 212 aircraft crashed during take-off last Wednesday, smashing into a Maersk-owned oil rig 70km off the coast of Dubai.
Some of the bodies were so badly burnt that they had to be identified by DNA tests.
A Dubai Petroleum spokesman said last night the government-owned company had nothing to do with the deaths. "We are not their employers. If the families are making complaints they should go to their employers," he said.
A spokesman for Dubai Police said the crash was under investigation. A spokeswoman for the General Civil Aviation Authority added: "This is an ongoing matter and it will be at least two or three days before we have any findings."
She said the helicopter would have carried a black box that should have recorded the last moments of the flight, but would not say whether it had been recovered.
Peter Pereira, 45, whose brother Julias was one of two Indians killed in the crash, said: "We feel isolated here and have no information about what is going on in Dubai. We are waiting for any news about the investigations or the body of my brother. This is a very disturbing time for us and things are worse because we are not getting any information."
Julias, 37, had been married for two years but left his wife in his native city of Pune, hoping to save money for their future by working at the oil field.
He spent alternate months at home and had just begun a four-week stint in the Rashid oilfield on Tuesday.
His younger brother Savio is preparing to fly to Dubai today to repatriate Julias's body.
"We are all keeping a brave face but we do not know how we will react when we see the body," their older brother Peter said.
A spokeswoman for the Philippine consulate in Dubai said staff had been trying to get news for the family of Diosdado Buhangin, 48, an oil technician who had worked in Dubai for more than six years before his death in the crash.
"We have tried to get information. It is very frustrating. I do not know if there has been a news blackout about this but no one knows or is saying anything," she said.
Mr Buhangin's widow, Vilma, 48, had to break the news of his death to their five children aged 20, 14, 13, 11 and nine.
She was informed by a telephone call at her home outside Manila from Petroleum Network Services, a firm sub-contracted by Dubai Petroleum which recruited Mr Buhangin.
"My eldest son was with me when I received the phone call. My youngest son still thinks my husband will be home for his birthday on Oct 20," Mrs Buhangin said. "Now I do not want to be alone in the house and do not know how I am going to bring up five children on my own.
"My husband has been positively identified now but I hope to travel to Dubai this week as I want to see his body first-hand before it arrives back home - as hard as that will be. He will always be remembered as a loving husband and a responsible father to our children. He paid for our house, our debts, our daily expenses and the children's schooling. I will be lost without him."
Mrs Buhangin begged the Philippine Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the department of foreign affairs for help in repatriating her husband's body.
She last saw him in August and spoke to him on the telephone hours before the crash. Petroleum Network Services is expected to pay the funeral expenses and her ticket to Dubai.
A spokeswoman for the Indian consulate in Dubai said it had no official confirmation of the deaths of the Indian workers.
"We have not been given any information at all. We are in touch with the company and as soon as it issues the names we will provide all assistance to the victims in repatriating bodies, but cannot do anything until they do so. Until then we will have to wait."
A spokesman for the Pakistani consulate said he had been given no information about the Pakistani victim. The British embassy said it had yet to make contact with relatives of Chris Brown, the dead British pilot.
tyaqoob@thenational.ae
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%C2%A0specs%20
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The%20specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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.”
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Cashew%0D%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202020%0D%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Ibtissam%20Ouassif%20and%20Ammar%20Afif%0D%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3EIndustry%3A%20FinTech%0D%3Cbr%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%2410m%0D%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Mashreq%2C%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Specs – Taycan 4S
Engine: Electric
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 571bhp
Torque: 650Nm
Price: Dh431,800
Specs – Panamera
Engine: 3-litre V6 with 100kW electric motor
Transmission: 2-speed auto
Power: 455bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: from Dh431,800
What's%20in%20my%20pazhamkootan%3F
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