The International Transport Workers' Federation wants Sri Lanka to release an ailing supply ship captain held for the last three years.

It says Ukrainian Gennadiy Gavrylov has been stranded in the south Asian country since June 2016, when he was arrested after the now-scrapped 1,476-dwt Avant Garde (built 1982) was seized by authorities.

The Avant Garde was hired to provide piracy protection and had firearms and ammunition on board.