Oman has begun trying to contain oil leaking from the grounded tanker Caroline Bezengi, which has been spilling crude for weeks off the country’s coast near a protected marine area.
DR reports that the 247 meter tanker is sitting on rocky ground in the Arabian Sea. The owner has not come forward, even though the ship is in an acute crisis. How much oil has escaped is not known.
The pollution threatens wildlife around an island that is a protected marine area with sea turtles and corals. According to Al Jazeera, Oman’s environmental authorities are now working to contain the slick. AP reports that oil has reached the shore of Qibliyah Island.
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Estimates of the spill’s size differ. Oman’s Environment Authority said on August 10 that the slick covered about 390 square kilometers and was within roughly seven kilometers of the coast, as reported by Al Jazeera. Greenpeace’s expert on international environmental disasters, Nina Noelle, said the pollution now covers about 600 square kilometers, up from 45 square kilometers in late July.
A sanctioned shadow fleet vessel
The Caroline Bezengi appears on sanctions lists in the European Union, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The countries regard it as part of Russia’s shadow fleet, which moves oil around price caps intended to weaken Russia’s economy and its war against Ukraine.
According to the site Vesselfinder, the tanker was built in 2001 and sails under the flag of Cameroon. Yevgeniy Golovchenko, assistant professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, notes that the vessel has been listed as sailing under a false flag since June in the Equasis database. He describes the lack of credible insurance, repeated flag changes and frequent changes of manager as typical warning signs.
Jessica Larsen, who researches maritime security at the Danish Institute for International Studies, says the polluter is supposed to pay. When ownership is impossible to trace, she says, the coastal state is left carrying the burden. Per Muscat Daily, Oman appealed to the owner in late July and warned of legal consequences, without result.
Reuters reported on July 31 that the crew first reported difficulties on June 8 off Mukalla in Yemen, with initial assessments pointing to a blast on board. The cause has not been explained. Reuters also reported that the vessel had loaded Russian oil at Novorossiysk. Maritime Executive reported that the cargo was believed to be bound for India.
Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental expert at the Dutch organization PAX, put the original cargo at 800,000 barrels of crude, according to Muscat Daily. The newspaper also reports that Oman has had calculations made on pumping the oil to another ship through a thousand meter line, so the damaged tanker can be pulled free.
