UAE Confirms Oil Spill and Shuts Beaches After VLCC Attack

The United Arab Emirates confirmed the existence of an extensive oil spill spreading along the Persian Gulf coast, off the Khor Al Beidah peninsula. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment ordered the closure of beaches and acknowledged that residents in various areas had reported strong, unusual odors. Authorities believe the slick originated from a VLCC that had been attacked earlier in the month.

Although Emirati authorities have not officially identified the vessel or the cause of the spill, several sources link it to the Taiwanese VLCC Gem No. 2, a 302,783 DWT tanker sailing under the Panamanian flag, which was attacked on October 9 some 13 nautical miles west of Al Jazeera. Maritime intelligence service TankerTrackers reported that the vessel, identified by IMO number 9735373, was carrying more than two million barrels of Saudi crude and had its AIS transponder switched on when it was struck, triggering a fire that was extinguished that same day. According to that source, the first indication of the spill did not appear until October 19.

Windward AI had detected the slick on Tuesday, about 16 miles off Umm Al Quwain, and by Friday it had already spread over more than 22 miles, covering, according to satellite imagery, an area of more than 60 square miles. Images from the European Union's Copernicus system, dated October 24, showed that the spill continued to expand in the following days and was beginning to reach the shores north of Umm Al Quwain.

Umm Al Quwain authorities temporarily closed all of its beaches and coastal areas while technical teams assess the damage, and the Sharjah government shut down, as a precaution, the beach at Al Hamriyah, near the border with Umm Al Quwain. In Ras Al Khaimah, authorities ordered the closure of all beaches until further notice. The environment ministry stated that the odors do not pose a health risk, but asked fishermen and boaters to avoid the affected areas while containment, cordoning and cleanup operations continue.

The incident comes amid an escalation of attacks on commercial vessels in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran. According to data from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, October was the worst month for attacks on commercial shipping in that area. Professor Nidal Hilal, director of the Water Research Center at New York University Abu Dhabi, described the spill as a serious environmental concern and said the temporary closure of the beaches was a prudent measure while the extent of the slick is assessed.