Satellite imagery and video verified by Reuters show two new oil slicks inside the Gulf, near Iran's Qeshm and Sirri islands, as tit-for-tat attacks on tankers by Iran and the United States raise fears of environmental damage. The slicks come as a separate, larger spill from a grounded tanker off Oman already threatens the region's waters.
Two new slicks spotted inside the Gulf
Satellite pictures from Copernicus's Sentinel-2 satellites show one slick off the southern tip of Qeshm Island, the dolphin-shaped island in the Strait of Hormuz near Iran's coast. Wim Zwijnenburg, an environmental open-source researcher at the Dutch peace organization PAX, said the dark color in parts of the slick pointed to heavy fuel oil, while a lighter, diluted slick stretched around 160 km. A video posted on August 11 and verified by Reuters showed a dark, bubbling liquid washing ashore on the beaches of Suza on Qeshm Island.
John Amos, CEO of SkyTruth, which uses satellite imagery to detect oil spills, called it "a major incident". A second slick appeared near the smaller Sirri Island, about 100 km southwest of Qeshm and home to some Iranian offshore oil and gas production. The Qeshm imagery was taken on August 10 and the Sirri imagery on August 13.
A dry bulk carrier attacked near Oman
Samir Madani, co-founder of monitoring service TankerTrackers.com, said the Qeshm Island slick likely stemmed from a leak on the Minoan Pioneer, a Liberia-flagged dry bulk ship. The vessel was hit by an unknown projectile close to Oman's coast on August 3 in a suspected Iranian attack while sailing through the Strait of Hormuz, and one seafarer went missing, maritime security sources said. One maritime security source told Reuters the same leak likely also affected Qeshm Island.
A spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry said on X that oil pollution from the Gulf had reached Qeshm Island and that preliminary evidence pointed to a foreign bulk carrier as the source. Reuters could not independently confirm the cause of either slick or identify the substances involved. A source involved in the Minoan Pioneer salvage operation said a tugboat dispatched to secure the grounded vessel could not approach it because of difficulty obtaining permission from Iranian authorities.
Separate spill off Oman already spreading
Outside the Strait of Hormuz, a grounded tanker called the Caroline Bezengi is leaking Russian crude oil into a protected marine area off Oman. Some estimates put the resulting slick at 2,000 square km. That incident has not been linked to the Iran war. The conflict in the region has complicated efforts to assess and clean up spills across the Gulf, according to a satellite oceanographer at the University of South Florida.
Source: Investing.com (Reuters)
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