Two separate slicks have appeared in Iranian waters inside the Gulf, according to Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and video verified by Reuters. One slick off the southern tip of Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz likely stemmed from a leak from the Minoan Pioneer, a Liberia-flagged dry bulk carrier hit by an unknown projectile on August 3 while transiting the Strait. A diluted portion of that slick stretched around 160 km, and a dark, bubbling liquid was filmed washing ashore on Suza beach on August 11.
A second slick near Sirri Island, home to Iranian offshore oil and gas production, was imaged on August 13. Reuters could not independently confirm the cause of either slick. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said preliminary evidence pointed to a foreign bulk carrier as the source of the Qeshm pollution.
The incidents are separate from the Caroline Bezengi, the grounded tanker leaking Russian crude off Oman, whose slick some estimates put at 2,000 square km.
Context
These in-Gulf slicks are distinct from the Caroline Bezengi leak, whose slick satellite specialist John Amos put at over 2,000 square km in mid-August.
