It is seven months since Vinay Kumar and his crew left the UAE after washing ashore in Umm Al Quwain on board a shipping tanker abandoned at sea for almost three years. When the Merchant Tanker Iba split from its anchorage in rough seas and drifted on to a public beach in January, it gave .
Stranded sailors: ‘Mt Iba’ tanker crew to leave Dubai on repatriation flights
The crew of the abandoned merchant tanker Mt Iba are set to fly home to their families after four years stranded in the Gulf.
Sailing into Dubai Maritime City (DMC) port marked an end to a ordeal that made headlines around the world.
The Mt Iba, a 5,000-tonne Panama-flagged shipping vessel, washed ashore in Umm Al Quwain in January after breaking free from its anchorage in rough weather.
The ship had sat anchored off the UAE coast since 2017 after owners Alco Shipping hit financial problems.
It was finally sold in March, so the crew could be paid 80 per cent of what they were owed, amounting to about $170,000.
Cuatro años sin pisar tierra y sin sueldo: el final del "infierno" para los tripulantes de un buque varado eldiario.es - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eldiario.es Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Crew of oil tanker beached off UAE to go home after four years stranded at sea
The crew of an oil tanker who have not set foot on dry land for nearly four years after being abandoned on board their ship, which later ran aground off the United Arab Emirates, are finally going home to see their families.
The seafarers, who said they experienced “living hell” on board the 5,000-ton MT Iba after the tanker’s owner hit financial problems and stopped paying salaries almost three years ago, have been given a settlement for wages owed to them. They hope to be repatriated in March.
Tourists are more accustomed to seeing kite surfers or kayaks off the idyllic coast of Umm Al Quwain, in the United Arab Emirates. But today they have gathered on sun loungers to sip coffee and gaze at the unusual sight of a 5,000-ton oil tanker grounded on the sand. For the crew inside the Panama-flagged MT Iba, however, being grounded on the beach marks another harrowing chapter in an almost four-year ordeal at sea. It is one of the worst.