Rough monsoon weather is delaying the salvage of the grounded oil tanker Caroline Bezengi off southern Oman, where crude has been leaking for weeks. The vessel carries 800,000 barrels of Russian oil and appears on the EU sanctions list.
DR reports that the tanker has been stuck on rocky ground near an island off Oman since June 23, citing Reuters. The crew reported an explosion on board on June 8, after which the ship drifted until it ran aground. It is now half submerged and listing to one side.
The British security and risk firm Ambrey has been engaged to coordinate the salvage and bring the cargo ashore. Thilo Maack, a marine biologist at Greenpeace in Germany, told DR that four-meter waves in the area have kept the operation from starting. According to Maack, oil has already reached a 40-kilometer stretch of Oman’s coast.
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In its press release of August 13, Ambrey said it had mobilized salvage vessels, aircraft, specialist personnel and more than 100 tons of oil spill response equipment. The company added that specialists have boarded the tanker with support from the Royal Air Force of Oman. Ambrey noted that the work is taking place during the Khareef monsoon in the Dhofar region.
Al Jazeera reported that Oman’s Environment Authority put the slick at roughly 390 to 400 square kilometers in early August, inside a protected marine reserve. At that point it was about seven kilometers from shore. Later satellite analysis cited by Al Jazeera indicates the slick has grown to more than 2,000 square kilometers, and Omani authorities have confirmed that oil has reached the coastline.
The Omani newspaper Muscat Daily writes that rocky, shallow waters around Al-Qibliyah Island make it hard to send support vessels to the tanker. Per the same report, Oman’s Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology is coordinating the response, with specialist responders including Oil Spill Response Limited, plus containment booms and dispersants.
Part of the pollution has hit a protected marine area that is home to sea turtles, according to DR. Greenpeace in Germany describes the situation as a disaster that was waiting to happen, and Maack said it is exactly what the organization has warned about for the past two years.
The 25-year-old ship sails under the flag of Cameroon, but Cameroon denies any connection to it. No owner has publicly taken responsibility for the salvage. Maack described the vessel as under-insured or uninsured with unclear ownership. According to the online outlet Insurance Business, a sanctioned Russian insurer emerged in connection with the salvage about a week ago.
Reuters reports that aircraft and ships are part of the current operation, and that Ambrey has hired a firm that leads internationally in oil spill containment. According to DR’s information, Caroline Bezengi sailed under the Great Belt Bridge with a cargo of Russian oil in October last year.
