DUBAI: An oil spill from a tanker that ran aground off Oman’s coast has reached the mainland, state media reported, while monsoon winds were obstructing containment efforts, the United Nations’ maritime agency said on Wednesday.
An investigation previously found that the ship had been stranded for weeks near Oman’s Al-Qibliyyah island after it was damaged by explosions. The Oman News Agency (ONA) quoted the country’s environment authority as saying that “today’s monitoring results showed that some beaches in the Ras Madrakah area were affected by oil pollution”.
The Indian Ocean town sits more than 200 kilometres from Al-Qibliyya. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the UN’s International Maritime Organisation said it was “closely monitoring the oil leakage from the crude oil tanker CAROLINE BEZENGI, which grounded off the coast of Oman on 30 June 2026 and is currently around 22 nautical miles offshore of Sharbithat, Oman”.
They added that “oil is drifting offshore to the northeast of Al-Qibliyyah island with some oil reported to be reaching the mainland,” and that “the seasonal monsoon has limited access to the vessel and delayed salvage operations”.
Oman on Monday said it was working to contain the spill, which had affected roughly 390 square kilometres (150 square miles), according to the most recent analysis from the country’s environment agency.
The slick was concentrated around the Hallaniyat archipelago off the country’s southern coast, where a marine reserve was established last year to protect sensitive ecosystems home to diverse marine life, including rare sea turtles. On Wednesday, the ONA reported that “a coastal stretch of up to 40 kilometers in the (Ras Madrakah) area is expected to be affected, with a potential impact on the southern beaches of Masirah Island — spanning 10 to 20 kilometers — anticipated in the coming hours, based on current data”.
Hormuz slick
Omani authorities have not yet identified the cause of the spill. But British maritime security company Vanguard said last week that the tanker was rocked by explosions in early June as it sailed off the coast of Yemen, causing water to enter several sections of the vessel.
Advocacy groups Greenpeace and PAX said that the spill was on the verge of causing an “environmental disaster”, saying the tanker was carrying around one million barrels of crude. The ship is believed to be part of Russia’s “shadow fleet”, which Moscow uses to circumvent Western sanctions on its oil exports.
The fleet includes ageing vessels that have faced criticism over maintenance, insurance and safety standards. Tankers have been frequently targeted in the Gulf region over recent months as the US exchanged fire with Iran and its allied proxies.
In Iran, media reported on Wednesday that an oil slick in the Strait of Hormuz had reached the island of Qeshm, affecting beaches and an environmentally sensitive mangrove forest. State news agency IRNA said on Wednesday the slick had affected areas on Qeshm’s southern coast, as well as parts of the smaller neighbouring island of Hengam.
TankerTrackers, a US-hosted website that monitors shipping movements worldwide, said “the oil spill appears to derive from the Iranian attack on bulk carrier MINOAN PIONEER” carried out in Omani waters on August 3. “The spillage then drifted across the strait over to Iran,” TankerTrackers said.
Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2026
