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Crew of stranded tanker to be repatriated after four years

The crew of the abandoned 'Iba' were set to fly home to their families after four years stranded off Dubai. The tanker washed ashore in Umm Al Quwain on Jan 21 after breaking free from its anchorage in rough weather. It had sat anchored off the UAE coast since 2017 after the owners Alco Shipping were hit by financial problems. The ship was finally sold in March, so the crew could be paid 80 per cent of what they were owed, amounting to about $170,000. Now the five crew members – three from India, one from Pakistan and another from Myanmar – can finally return home on flights after arriving in Dubai. They hoped to get on repatriation flights over the next week. The men will get a health check as per maritime protocols once they end their contracts. The new owners took weeks to recover the vessel and refloat it. It spent several more weeks at anchorage while the crew’s paperwork was completed. On May 9 the tanker berthed in Dubai.

Picture from stranded ship

Picture from Umm Al Quwain 06.04.21 http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=3278137

Crew still stuck on abandoned and grounded tanker

Five crew men remain stranded abaord the 'Iba' for nearly four years, and even after the grounding of the ship they were still unable to set foot on dry land. The men are exhausted from the ordeal that has kept them from their families and aboard the vessel long after the tanker’s owner, Alco Shipping, fell into financial trouble and stopped paying their salaries 32 months ago. The crew was left to fend for itself, relying on donations from charities they contacted for food and hygiene supplies. The Mission to Seafarers has been providing regular food aid and checking on the sailors’ wellbeing since their ship was first abandoned. The crew is collectively owed around $230,000, said the charity’s regional director Andy Bowerman, who is helping mediate negotiations between the sailors and Alco Shipping. The company had just offered to settle with the sailors for $150,000, although it is not clear if the crew will accept the lower sum. If they did not accept the offer, they would remain on board until a resolution was reached, as the vessel provided their only leverage against the company. The tanker ran aground in Umm Al Quwain after rough seas broke both of its anchors and pushed it onto the shore. Report with photo and video: https://www.reuters.com/article/emirates-oil-tanker-int-idUSKBN2A91NS