Caroline Bezengi Oil Slick Reaches 400 Sq Km Off Oman

On August 10, Oman said the oil slick from the grounded tanker Caroline Bezengi had grown to roughly 400 square kilometres off the Dhofar coast, with no salvage response at the scene after over two months on the rocks. An explosion was reported aboard off Yemen on June 8 before the tanker grounded on the Hallaniyat Islands.

The spill is still growing. The Caroline Bezengi carries close to one million barrels of Russian crude and is under sanctions from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Switzerland.

Oman said the slick was spreading and drifting toward the mainland coast. The Hallaniyat Islands Marine Buffer Zone, a protected habitat for humpback whales, seabirds and sea turtles, sits directly ahead.