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DUBAI: An oil spill from a tanker that ran aground off Oman’s coast has reached the mainland, state media reported, while monsoon winds were obstructing containment efforts, the United Nations’ maritime agency said on Wednesday.
An investigation previously found that the ship had been stranded for weeks near Oman’s Al-Qibliyyah island after it was damaged by explosions. The Oman News Agency (ONA) quoted the country’s environment authority as saying that “today’s monitoring results showed that some beaches in the Ras Madrakah area were affected by oil pollution”.
The Indian Ocean town sits more than 200 kilometres from Al-Qibliyya. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the UN’s International Maritime Organisation said it was “closely monitoring the oil leakage from the crude oil tanker CAROLINE BEZENGI, which grounded off the coast of Oman on 30 June 2026 and is currently around 22 nautical miles offshore of Sharbithat, Oman”.
They added that “oil is drifting offshore to the northeast of Al-Qibliyyah island with some oil reported to be reaching the mainland,” and that “the seasonal monsoon has limited access to the vessel and delayed salvage operations”.
