A vessel already sanctioned for moving Russian fuel is now leaking oil in a protected marine area off the coast of Oman, according to satellite analysis reviewed by Reuters. Copernicus Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 imagery captured between July 2 and July 13 shows a silver and grey slick in a cove southwest of al Qibliyyah island, matching the last known position of the tanker Caroline Bezengi.
The Caroline Bezengi loaded Russian oil in Novorossiysk before its most recent voyage and last transmitted an AIS signal on June 11 off the coast of Yemen. Its listed owner, Shanghai based Rentoor Shipmanagement, could not be reached. The Oman Maritime Security Centre and the country's Environment Authority did not respond to requests for comment.
Three independent specialists, John Amos of SkyTruth, Leon Moreland of the Conflict and Environment Observatory, and Louis Goddard of Data Desk, told Reuters the imagery appeared to show an oil spill. Two maritime security sources said the tanker first reported difficulties on June 8 off the southern Yemeni port of Mukalla, with one confirming the spill. The cause of the vessel's problems is not yet clear.
The European Union and Britain have both sanctioned the Caroline Bezengi for its role in carrying Russian fuel. Moscow relies on a shadow fleet of aging tankers, many with opaque ownership and lapsed classification, to move crude and products around Western price caps. Analysts have warned for two years that a casualty involving one of these ships in a sensitive marine area was a matter of when, not if.
For owners, insurers, and coastal states, the incident is a fresh reminder of the environmental exposure sitting on the water. A leaking sanctioned tanker with no responsive owner and no functioning transponder is a cleanup liability with no clear payer, and the location, close to Omani fisheries and reef habitat, raises the political stakes for a government that has stayed largely on the sidelines of the wider Gulf crisis.