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Kharg Island oil slick
Satellite images reviewed by Reuters and the Associated Press showed a suspected oil spill near Iran’s Kharg Island, with the Reuters report saying the grey-and-white slick appeared on May 6 and continued through May 8 and that no cause was apparent.
“The report indicates that images showing the approximately 17-square-mile grey-and-white slick first appeared on May 6”
The Associated Press reported the slick was first detected on Tuesday in waters off Kharg Island and had expanded to about 71 square kilometres by Friday, citing maritime intelligence firm Windward AI.
The New York Times-linked reporting described the spill as spreading to an area of 20 square miles inside the channel between May 6 and 8 and said it amounted to as much as 3,000 lost barrels of oil, while also noting it was unclear what had caused the spill.
In parallel with the maritime tension, the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Strait of Hormuz, and the U.S. military said it carried out “self-defense strikes” after coming under attack, while Iran’s foreign minister dismissed deadlines and said Tehran “does its own thing.”
Competing explanations
Leon Moreland, a researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, told The New York Times that the spill “appeared to cover more than 20 square miles (52 square kilometers) as of Thursday,” while also saying the “original source remains unclear, meanwhile it's drifting south and seems unlikely to be addressed appropriately.”
Louis Goddard, co-founder of consultancy Data Desk, said the satellite imagery likely showed an oil slick and added that it could be the largest such incident since the start of the U.S.-Israel war against Iran roughly 70 days ago.
An Iranian official cited by Maariv denied the report, saying the claim was “false” and part of the enemy’s “psychological warfare,” and the official claimed the spill originated from oil tanker waste discharged by a European tanker.
The Associated Press reporting said it was unknown whether the spill was caused by a malfunction, an airstrike, or something else, and it noted the Pentagon declined to comment on whether the U.S. military was tracking the spill or whether there had been recent strikes on the Iranian island.
What’s at stake
The spill’s location near Iran’s main crude export terminal raised questions about the state of Iran’s energy production hub, with reporting that Kharg Island handles roughly 90% of Iran’s oil exports and that China is one of the main purchasers.
“Daniel estimated that the equivalent of roughly 80,000 oil barrels has spilled from Kharg Island”
Windward AI’s CEO Ami Daniel estimated that the equivalent of roughly 80,000 oil barrels has spilled from Kharg Island since the slick was first detected by satellite images Tuesday, and he said it was unlikely any cleanup efforts will be launched in Gulf waters that have become an active war zone.
Nina Noelle of Greenpeace Germany said the spill appears unlikely to impact land and that “More likely, it will dissipate offshore under prevailing conditions,” while also warning that depending on wind, waves and current conditions, parts of the slick could still possibly affect some sensitive marine habitats.
As the U.S. awaited an Iranian response to its proposal to end the war, reopen the strait and roll back Tehran’s disputed nuclear program, the U.S. military said it disabled two Iranian oil tankers trying to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called “hostile” U.S. military action as violating the ceasefire.
