Oil pollution from the Russian shadow fleet tanker Caroline Bezengi has spread to roughly 390 square kilometers off the coast of Oman, according to Oman's Environment Authority. Reuters and Arab News reported the assessment.
The spill began after the tanker was damaged and ran aground near the Halaniyat archipelago in June. Satellite images show the leak continued to spread in late July, and the nearest edge of the slick now sits about 7 kilometers from the shore.
Protected marine reserve at risk
The Halaniyat archipelago holds marine reserve status and is home to rare marine species, making it an important area for the surrounding ecosystem. Omani authorities said they are conducting aerial surveillance and using divers to monitor the situation, and are drawing up a plan to pump the remaining oil cargo off the vessel.
Nearly 1 million barrels of Russian crude
The Caroline Bezengi was carrying almost 1 million barrels of Russian crude oil. It loaded the cargo at the Russian port of Novorossiysk in April and passed through the Suez Canal in late May. The vessel belongs to Russia's so-called shadow fleet and is under sanctions imposed by the European Union, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Canada and Switzerland.
Russia uses aging tankers to get around sanctions, and their technical faults raise the risk of accidents, oil leaks and large-scale environmental disasters in different parts of the world. For Ukraine, the incident is also cited as an argument for tightening sanctions pressure on the Russian shadow fleet, which allows Moscow to keep exporting oil and financing the war.
EU moving away from Russian energy
On August 4, the EU said it was moving toward a full rejection of Russian energy resources, with Hungary and Slovakia as exceptions, since they still import Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline. In early July, Bloomberg reported that Russian oil export shipments had increased but were accumulating at sea.
