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Massive oil slick from tanker grounds off Oman; wildlife threatened
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Leaking crude oil from a tanker grounded off a nature reserve in Oman has created a slick covering almost 400 square kilometres, the country’s government said on Monday.
The Caroline Bezengi is loaded with close to one million barrels of Russian oil bound for Asia and first reported difficulties on June 8 off Yemen, with two maritime security sources saying initial assessments indicated a blast had occurred onboard.
No party has taken responsibility for attacking the vessel.
Oman, in its first public disclosure on the environmental impact, said on Monday it was seeking to tackle the oil leak near the Hallaniyat Islands.
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tarik issued a royal decree last year creating a nature reserve around the islands, an area that is home to wildlife including Arabian Sea humpback whales and Socotra cormorants.
The oil slick covers some 390 square km (150 square miles), Oman’s Environment Authority said in a statement carried by the state news agency, adding there was no concern for facilities in the area including water desalination plants and tourist facilities.
It extends northeast of the islands and is within an estimated seven kilometres of the coast, the authority said.
Environmental group Greenpeace last week estimated the slick at around 600 square kilometres, citing analysis of satellite imagery.
A spill of this scale requires dispersant be sprayed across the affected area by aircraft and the use of booms and other equipment to collect the oil before it reaches the shore or sinks to the sea floor, said Tony Gutierrez, professor of environmental microbiology and biotechnology at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University.
