Satellite Images Reveal Oil Leak From Sanctioned Ship Near Oman

A sanctioned crude oil tanker grounded off Oman is leaking into environmentally protected waters, newly examined satellite imagery shows, raising urgent concerns that the vessel could fracture as the region’s powerful monsoon season batters the coast.

Images reviewed by The Associated Press show an oil slick spreading across about 20 square kilometers, or roughly 8 square miles, near Qibliyah Island in Dhofar, one of Oman’s protected Hallaniyat Islands. Streaks of dark crude have already washed onto the shoreline, and specialists say the spill appears to have intensified in recent days, heightening fears of a far more serious environmental disaster if the weather worsens.

“The last few days, the imagery indicates an increase in oil coming out, as the size of the sheen is growing,” Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental expert with the Dutch peace organization PAX, told the AP.

Zwijnenburg said the most serious danger is that high winds and heavy seas from the annual monsoon could further weaken the ship’s hull and cause the tanker to break apart.

The Caroline Bezengi, an 899-foot Suezmax tanker sailing under Cameroon’s flag, has been stuck off Oman’s southern coast since June after its crew reported an explosion on board, according to maritime news reports. Reuters, citing maritime security sources, said the ship first encountered problems on June 8 near Yemen’s port of Mukalla, where early assessments pointed to a possible blast. Authorities have not confirmed the cause.

Reuters-reviewed ship-tracking records showed the tanker had taken on Russian crude at Novorossiysk, the Black Sea port, before its most recent voyage. The Caroline Bezengi is under sanctions from the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada and Switzerland over allegations that it carried Russian oil as part of Moscow’s so-called “shadow fleet,” a group of older tankers used to evade Western restrictions imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Zwijnenburg estimated the tanker is carrying more than 800,000 barrels of crude oil and said recent imagery suggests at least one section of the hull has been breached. Other maritime specialists who reviewed the images told Reuters the vessel also appears to be listing, adding to concerns that it could eventually break apart.

The spill threatens a protected marine reserve in the Arabian Sea that is home to endangered petrels and other rare wildlife. Greenpeace Germany warned that oil has already polluted stretches of coastline and damaged the area’s fragile ecosystem.

“With oil apparently continuing to leak and the tanker stranded in a difficult location, there is a serious risk of a much larger oil disaster, with even more devastating consequences for the region’s coastlines and marine ecosystems,” Greenpeace Germany’s Nina Noelle told the AP.

The U.N.’s International Maritime Organization said earlier this week it is monitoring the situation, adding that while the vessel has not broken apart, authorities are continuing to assess the safety and environmental risks.

Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology ordered the vessel’s owners to remove the ship and its cargo by July 23. It is unclear whether that deadline was met or whether the owners have responded.