Seafarers from India, Bangladesh and Ukraine trapped aboard oil tanker in Persian Gulf holding fake agreements and no insurance.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) is calling on maritime authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to act now to save 19 seafarers abandoned in the Persian Gulf.
The seafarers, 17 of whom are from India – with the remaining two from Bangladesh and Ukraine – are aboard the tanker, Global Peace (IMO 9555199), anchored in Al Hamriyah, off the coast of UAE.
“This is a shocking case of abandonment that shines a light on how seafarers can be unseen victims of the illicit oil trade – it’s imperative that the UAE’s maritime authorities act now to save these seafarers and put an end to their ordeal,” said ITF Inspectorate Coordinator, Steve Trowsdale.
The Global Peace has no known flag, but it is owned by UAE-based Glory International FZ-LLC. The company has been under US sanctions since April this year.
The plight of the seafarers breaks international law under the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) and constitutes an abandonment: the ITF has duly filed the abandonment with the joint International Maritime Organization (IMO) and International Labour Organization (ILO) abandonment database.
Many of the seafarers on the Global Peace have been aboard for 15 months, well above the 11-month MLC-permitted maximum for a contract, while, despite some seafarers’ employment contracts expiring more than five months ago, their right to repatriation has been ignored.
The vessel is also believed to have no insurance, while seafarers’ contracts seen by the ITF refer to fictitious ITF collective bargaining agreements.
The UAE is a global hotspot for seafarer abandonment, with ITF data showing that more seafarer abandonments take place in the UAE than in any other country in the region. The UAE’s 32 vessel abandonments recorded in the first eight months of 2025 come second only to the 43 recorded in Türkiye. Notably, the UAE has not ratified the MLC.
“This case of abandonment exemplifies the lengths that criminal outfits like Glory International will go to in order to secure their illegal profits,” said Trowsdale. “And with illegitimate companies like this, it’s clear that seafarers are nothing more than expendable assets there to be used and abused.”
“As it massively expands its maritime industry, the UAE can and must do much more to protect seafarers’ human rights from criminal abuse in its waters. If the UAE takes seafarers’ rights seriously, it must ratify the MLC.”
Notes to editor
- In 2024, ITF data showed 3,133 seafarers were abandoned across a total of 312 vessels – the worst seafarer abandonment figures ever recorded. This was an 87% increase on the 1,676 seafarers abandoned in 2023, and a 136% increase on the 132 vessels abandoned in 2023.
- As of August 2025, the ITF has recorded 2,648 cases of seafarer abandonment taking place across 259 vessels: 2025 is on track to become the worst year of seafarer abandonment.
- The majority of vessels abandoned in 2025 have been in the Arab World and Iran (95 abandonments, 37%), followed by Europe (86 abandonments, 33%). Türkiye (43 abandonments, 17%) and the UAE (32 abandonments, 12%) are the countries where most vessels abandonments have taken place: their combined total far exceeds the total number of vessel abandonments across the Asia-Pacific region (45 abandonments).
