The United Arab Emirates reported an oil spill off its coast on Friday, closing beaches in the emirate of Umm Al Quwain after days of residents reporting oil-like odors across the country’s northern districts, including parts of Dubai.
Satellite images analyzed by AFP showed a hydrocarbon slick surrounding a vessel believed to be the tanker GEM NO.2, located roughly 20 kilometers off the Umm Al Quwain coast, days after the ship was struck by a projectile near the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing Iran-US conflict.
Spill Traced to October 9 Strike
The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on October 9 that a vessel had been hit by a projectile off the UAE coast, causing a fire that was later brought under control; maritime security company Vanguard identified the vessel as the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker GEM NO.2. Owned by Taiwan’s Global Energy Maritime, the ship had loaded roughly 2 million barrels of oil in early March from a Saudi port and had since been regularly transferring cargo with other vessels along the Emirati and Omani coasts near the strait, according to tracking data from maritime analytics firm Kpler.
Images from October 21, analyzed by Wim Zwijnenburg of Dutch NGO PAX, revealed a slick about 40 kilometers long covering an area of 190 square kilometers, stretching to within six kilometers of shore. Zwijnenburg said the imagery did not make it possible to determine whether the substance was thick crude oil or a thinner light oil sheen.
Beaches Closed, Residents Report Odors
The UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said it detected a tanker oil spill affecting Umm Al Quwain’s beaches and that teams had begun containment, cordoning, clean-up and remediation work to limit environmental impacts, with the emirate’s beaches closed to the public. Residents in the north of the country, including northern districts of Dubai, had reported unusual oil-like and chemical smells on social media for several days before the ministry’s confirmation.
Sharjah Police commander Lieutenant General Abdullah Mubarak bin Amer addressed public concern on a Sharjah TV and radio program, saying the situation was safe and stable with no threat to public health. The environment ministry similarly said the odours pose no health risks to residents, even as some described the smell as overwhelming enough to cause panic in their homes.
Spill Adds to Toll of Hormuz Conflict
The spill is among the most visible environmental consequences yet of the conflict that began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, during which attacks on commercial shipping in the Gulf have surged. More than 20 vessels, mostly oil tankers, have come under attack this month alone in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
The GEM NO.2 incident illustrates how damaged tankers left adrift or continuing ship-to-ship transfers in contested waters can create delayed, difficult-to-trace environmental hazards long after an initial strike. For Gulf states whose coastlines support tourism, fisheries and desalination infrastructure, the episode adds an ecological dimension to a conflict that has already disrupted roughly a fifth of the world’s seaborne oil trade passing through the strait.
Why it matters
The Umm Al Quwain spill demonstrates that attacks on tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz carry consequences well beyond immediate vessel losses and crew casualties, extending into coastal environmental damage for Gulf states. It underscores the growing operational risk facing tankers that continue ship-to-ship transfers in contested waters months into the conflict, and highlights the difficulty of attributing and containing spills from vessels damaged in active war zones. For shipping and energy markets, it adds another layer of disruption risk to a waterway that historically carries about a fifth of global seaborne oil trade.
Source: The New Arab (AFP)
