Grounded Tanker Caroline Bezengi Sinks Deeper as Oil Spill Spreads Off Oman

A sanctioned oil ship stranded off Oman has been going under. Satellite images published August 8 showed the Caroline Bezengi settling deeper into the rocks where it has sat since June. The ship carries roughly one million barrels of crude oil.

The Caroline Bezengi is a Suezmax ship flying the Cameroon flag. UK and European authorities sanctioned it as part of Russia's shadow fleet. It grounded on the Dhofar coast of Oman after an explosion on June 8 and has been leaking crude oil since.

Greenpeace reported that by August 4 the oil slick covered roughly 600 square kilometers. The spread accelerated fast. In a two-day stretch, the slick area grew several times over. That brought the spill to the Hallaniyat Islands Marine Buffer Zone, a protected strip of the Arabian Sea that shelters the Arabian Sea humpback whale, sea turtles, and petrels.

The ship's structural condition has gotten worse. Maritime Optima reported the hull is at risk of full failure. If that happens, the remaining crude enters the water at once. The Maritime Executive described the situation off Dhofar as an environmental catastrophe.