MT Iba
2017-2021 · Umm Al Quwain anchorage, UAE · status: resolved
- Opened
- 2017-09-01
- Closed
- 2021-04-01
- Port
- Umm Al Quwain anchorage, UAE
- Vessel IMO
- 9224116
- Flag
- PAN
- Shipowner
- Falcon Maritime & Aviation
- Insurer named on DMLC
- not confirmed on DMLC
- Seafarers affected
- 4
- Nationalities
- IN
- Unpaid wages (USD)
- 350,000
Summary
The Panama-flagged product tanker Iba was abandoned by Falcon Maritime with four Indian seafarers on board at Umm Al Quwain anchorage, UAE, in September 2017. Wages had stopped in 2016. The crew remained on board for over three and a half years — one of the longest documented abandonment cases in the IMO/ILO joint database. The seafarers survived on charity food deliveries and eventually left the vessel after a monsoon caused Iba to run aground on Umm Al Quwain beach in January 2021. The case received sustained international coverage and prompted UAE authorities to expedite crew repatriation. The Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi + ITF secured a portion of unpaid wages via arrest of the vessel and its subsequent judicial sale.
Outcome for crew
repatriated after 3.5+ years; partial wage recovery via vessel sale.
Source
Resolution / documentation via: ITF + Indian Embassy Abu Dhabi
Related rights + resources
- · Abandonment rights (MLC A2.5.2) — the regulatory framework this case is governed by
- · Unpaid wages
- · MLC 2006 financial-security providers directory
- · International Group P&I Clubs