![\"Mideast](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/british-firm-starts-containment-of-oil-spill-from-stricken-tanker-off-oman.jpg\")
Oil leaking from a grounded tanker near Qibliyah Island (European Space Agency via AP)\n<\/p>\nA British company has been hired to salvage a grounded Russian shadow fleet tanker off Oman\u2019s coast and stop an oil spill that is threatening wildlife as it reaches the country\u2019s shoreline following its dramatic spread in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
Satellite images have shown that oil from the tanker Caroline Bezengi has exponentially spread over hundreds of square kilometres during stormy weather, endangering a marine protected area.<\/p>\n
The region\u2019s \u201cKhareef\u201d monsoon season peaks in July and August.<\/p>\n
Ambrey, a UK-based maritime risk and response company, said its personnel boarded the vessel with help from the Omani air force to assess its condition before stabilising it.<\/p>\n
Oil leaking from a grounded tanker near Qibliyah Island (European Space Agency via AP)\n<\/p>\n
The vessel has been grounded off Qabiliyah Island in south-western Oman following an explosion of unclear cause in early June.<\/p>\n
Its cargo previously has been estimated at more than 800,000 barrels.<\/p>\n
Satellite images also have shown that the tanker is increasingly submerged, and experts have warned of an unprecedented environmental disaster if the vessel sinks or breaks open and leaks its entire cargo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an extremely challenging situation, compounded by adverse weather conditions associated with the Khareef monsoon,\u201d Ambrey\u2019s global response director Ed Wollaston said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The company did not immediately have any estimates of how long the salvage operation would take or cost.<\/p>\n
Oman\u2019s Environment Authority said on Wednesday the oil spill has reached the shores of Ras Madrakah, more than 200 kilometres north of Qabiliyah Island.<\/p>\n
Authorities said they estimated the spill could reach more than 100 kilometres further north, to Masirah Island.<\/p>\n
Hanen Keskes, a campaigner for the environmental group Greenpeace, said it is \u201cextremely concerning\u201d that the oil has spread from an offshore spill to the shoreline where it can contaminate coastal sediments.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can make the cleanup significantly more complex than containment at sea,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven after the slick has been contained and removed, the environmental impact can last for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
The marine protected area of Qabiliyah Island includes coral reefs, seagrass meadows and endangered turtles, and offers breeding sites for migratory birds.<\/p>\n
The area is also home to the rare Arabian Sea humpback whale.<\/p>\n
The remote area lacks infrastructure, making the salvage and containment more challenging and requiring more safety measures, Ms Keskes said.<\/p>\n
The 247-metre Caroline Bezengi is believed to be part of Russia\u2019s \u201cshadow fleet\u201d and has been sanctioned by the British government and the European Union for carrying cargoes of Russian oil.<\/p>\n
It had left the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk, in Russia, in May, according to geospatial data tracking company SynMax Maritime.<\/p>\n
The vessel\u2019s owners are believed to be Shanghai-based. The vessel is unflagged, and it is not clear if it is insured.<\/p>\n
It is only one of the environmental crises affecting the region.<\/p>\n
Off the coast of Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian authorities are cleaning up an oil spill off of Qeshm Island that has been attributed to the conflict between Iran and the United States.<\/p>\n
Images distributed by Iran\u2019s semi-official news agency ISNA show oil damage to the sandy beaches of Qeshm. It is not immediately clear what caused the spill.<\/p>\n
Iran has said it should receive compensation for its efforts to contain the damage.<\/p>\n
But maritime tracking firm TankerTrackers.com posted satellite images on X saying it appears the spill was caused by an Iranian attack on a bulk container ship off of Oman.<\/p>\n
The spill drifted across the strait to Iran.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A British company has been hired to salvage a grounded Russian shadow fleet tanker off Oman\u2019s coast and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[246,61,60,82],"class_list":["post-594575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}