Shadow fleet tanker Caroline Bezengi grounds off Oman, leaking oil into marine reserve
This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.
The shadow fleet tanker Caroline Bezengi, carrying 800,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude, grounded on the rocks of Al Qibliyah in Oman's Hallaniyat archipelago on June 30 after an explosion flooded its engine room. The vessel is leaking oil inside a 667-square-kilometer marine reserve created by Sultan Haitham to protect endangered Arabian Sea humpbacks. Oman's Environment Authority assessed the affected area at 390 square kilometers on August 10, while satellite analysis suggested more than 2,000 square kilometers two days later.
Key Facts
- The Caroline Bezengi, a Suezmax built in 2001, loaded 800,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude at Novorossiysk on May 11 and was destined for Sikka, Gujarat.
- An explosion flooded the engine room off southern Yemen on June 8, and the crew abandoned ship three days later.
- The vessel grounded on June 30 inside a 667-square-kilometer marine reserve created by Sultan Haitham nearly eight months earlier.
- Oman's Environment Authority assessed the affected area at 390 square kilometers on August 10; SkyTruth satellite analysis suggested more than 2,000 square kilometers two days later.
- Dimitris Maniatis of maritime risk firm Marisks told Bloomberg Television that cleanup alone could run $200 million to $500 million.
The Vessel and Its Cargo
The Caroline Bezengi is a Suezmax tanker built in 2001, carrying roughly 800,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude. The ship loaded at Novorossiysk on May 11 and was destined for Sikka, in Gujarat. On June 8 an explosion flooded her engine room off southern Yemen and left her adrift. No group has yet claimed responsibility and no government has stated a conclusion about the cause. Security sources and Greenpeace have both pointed to a limpet mine, but that is not yet confirmed.
Grounding and Oil Spill
Her crew abandoned ship three days after the explosion, and on June 30 she hit the rocks of Al Qibliyah, in the Hallaniyat archipelago, and grounded. The vessel now sits leaking oil inside a 667-square-kilometer marine reserve Sultan Haitham had created by royal decree nearly eight months before, to protect an endangered population of Arabian Sea humpbacks. Oil reached the mainland at Ras Madrakah. Oman's Environment Authority assessed the affected area at 390 square kilometers on August 10; satellite analysis by SkyTruth's John Amos suggested a figure of more than 2,000 square kilometers two days later. Dimitris Maniatis, who runs the maritime risk firm Marisks, told Bloomberg Television that cleanup alone could run $200 million to $500 million.
Liability and Compensation
The Caroline Bezengi's last registered owner of record is Rentoor Shipmanagement Ltd, a Marshall Islands company dissolved on February 24. Its Shanghai correspondence address is, Maritime Executive reports, a dead-letter box in a residential block. The ship claimed Cameroonian registry, but Cameroon suspended its international register on February 6 after discovering its flag was being issued through two fraudulent websites. In June Cameroon told the IMO it had struck 39 ships off its registry. No International Group club (whose members insure roughly 87% of oceangoing tonnage) is likely to insure a ship without any approved classification, and the ship had no publicly identified insurer.
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Shadow fleet tanker Caroline Bezengi grounds off Oman, leaking oil into marine reserve
