*Crew of oil tanker beached off UAE to go home after four years stranded at sea.*

They could have left before, but they would have forfeited their back pay for years on the ship.

Their ordeal is over, but what we really need is a treaty to assure that stranded crew do not face that unjust choice in the future. Perhaps the nearest country should be allowed to seize the ship, pay off the crew, sell it for auction, take enough to cover what was paid to the crew plus something for its trouble, and send the rest to the previous owner.