ITF Urges Action Over Abandoned Tanker Global Peace

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) has sounded the alarm over the plight of seafarers aboard the Global Peace, an oil products tanker abandoned by its owners and stranded off the UAE coast for several months.

According to the ITF, the crew includes 17 Indian nationals, along with two others from Bangladesh and Ukraine. Many have been stuck on board for more than 15 months — well beyond the 11-month maximum permitted under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006). Several crew contracts expired over five months ago, yet repatriation has not been granted. In addition, the contracts were found to contain fake ITF agreements, leaving the sailors without financial safeguards.

The federation has logged the case in the international abandonment database, jointly maintained by the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organization, citing it as a breach of maritime law. The ITF has called on UAE maritime authorities to step in and safeguard the rights of the stranded crew.

The Global Peace, a 6,191-dwt tanker owned by UAE-based Glory International FZ-LLC, has been under US sanctions since April 2025. The vessel is currently operating without a flag and lacks insurance coverage.

The UAE, which has not ratified the MLC treaty on seafarers’ working and living standards, is considered a hotspot for crew abandonment cases. ITF data shows the country ranks second only to Turkiye, which has 43 active cases, with 32 new incidents reported in the UAE in the first eight months of 2025 alone.