Oil Slicks in Strait of Hormuz Raise Environmental Damage Concerns
A potential environmental disaster is unfolding in Iranian waters as two oil slicks have appeared in the Strait of Hormuz. Satellite imagery and video verified by Reuters show the slicks, which are believed to be heavy fuel oil, stretching for hundreds of kilometers.
The larger slick was spotted off the southern tip of Qeshm Island, a large dolphin-shaped island near Iran's coast. A dark, bubbling liquid was seen washing ashore on the beaches of Suza on Qeshm Island, contrasting with the turquoise water surrounding it.
John Amos, CEO of SkyTruth, said this is 'the biggest one that I've seen in recent months', calling it 'a major incident'. The slick likely stemmed from a leak from the Minoan Pioneer, a Liberia-flagged dry bulk ship that was hit by an unknown projectile close to Oman's coast on August 3.
The same leak also affected Qeshm Island, according to maritime security sources. Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said oil pollution from the gulf had reached Qeshm Island and that preliminary evidence 'indicates a foreign bulk carrier as the source'.