Oil slick from Russian “shadow fleet” tanker off Oman grows to 600 square kilometers, Greenpeace says

An oil slick off the coast of Oman, caused by an accident involving a Russian tanker, has expanded significantly in recent days, reaching an area of 600 square kilometers, according to Greenpeace Germany. This sudden quadrupling in size, observed over the past two days, suggests a deterioration in the vessel's condition. The oil slick was initially 45 square kilometers in size on July 26, having expanded to around 150 square kilometers by August 2.

Greenpeace environmental disaster expert Nina Noelle stated that the oil poses a threat to sea turtles and birds nesting in the Al Hallaniyat archipelago near the spill site. The tanker responsible for this incident, Caroline Bezengi (IMO 9224439), ran aground off Al Qibliyah island on June 12 after a series of explosions, the cause of which remains unknown.

Owned by Rentoor Shipmanagement, a Shanghai-based company, the tanker is part of a group of vessels linked to Lagosmarine Ltd, a Cyprus-based company. These tankers regularly transported Russian oil from Primorsk, Ust-Luga, and Kozmino to India and China. Investigations have revealed that Caroline Bezengi's routes aligned with shipments of Russian oil purchased by Dubai-based companies connected to Latvian citizen Aleksejs Haļavins at prices surpassing the G7 price cap.

The tanker is currently under sanctions from the European Union, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Canada.