![Caroline Bezengi: Shadow Fleet Oil Disaster](https://cdn.slatesource.com/9/8/f/98fd32eb-b105-4b36-b15d-3a16ca41ffcf.webp)

# Caroline Bezengi: Shadow Fleet Oil Disaster

- [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/caroline-bezengi-shadow-fleet-oil-disaster)
- By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph)
- Created on Aug 11, 2026

**800** sq km and growing

## The ShipShip That ShouldShould Not Have Been ThereThere

The CarolineCaroline BezengiBezengi is a 274-metre274-metre SuezmaxSuezmax tankertanker builtbuilt in 20012001. It is partpart of Russia'sRussia's so-calledso-called shadowshadow fleetfleet: olderolder, poorlypoorly maintainedmaintained shipsships that sailsail underunder obscureobscure flagsflags, lacklack WesternWestern insuranceinsurance, and existexist primarilyprimarily to movemove sanctionedsanctioned RussianRussian crudecrude to buyersbuyers who cannotcannot be seenseen purchasingpurchasing it openlyopenly. The vesselvessel was sanctionedsanctioned by the UK, EU, UkraineUkraine, CanadaCanada, and SwitzerlandSwitzerland for carryingcarrying oiloil that financesfinances Russia'sRussia's warwar. It was nominallynominally registeredregistered underunder Cameroon'sCameroon's flagflag but was de-listedde-listed from that registryregistry in JuneJune 20262026, oneone of 39 vesselsvessels struckstruck off at the samesame timetime. In AprilApril 20262026 it loadedloaded at NovorossiyskNovorossiysk on Russia'sRussia's BlackBlack SeaSea coastcoast, transitedtransited the SuezSuez CanalCanal in latelate MayMay, and was headingheading for AsiaAsia with a cargocargo of closeclose to oneone millionmillion barrelsbarrels of crudecrude when thingsthings wentwent badlybadly wrongwrong off YemenYemen.

🛢️⚠️🌊01.04.2026 – 10.08.2026

01.04.2026The Caroline Bezengi loads Russian crude at Novorossiysk port and transits the Suez Canal bound for Asia with close to one million barrels aboard.

01.04.2026

08.06.2026An explosion is reported aboard the vessel off Yemen. No party claims responsibility. A Ukrainian mine attack is suspected but has not been confirmed.

08.06.2026

11.06.2026The tanker transmits its last public AIS tracking signal and goes dark, drifting off the Yemeni coast without Western insurance or emergency cover.

11.06.2026

26.07.2026Satellite imagery confirms the Caroline Bezengi grounded near the Hallaniyat Islands, Oman. The initial slick covers approximately 20 sq km.

26.07.2026

04.08.2026Greenpeace satellite analysis places the slick at 600 sq km. It has been expanding rapidly as the damaged hull continues to leak crude.

04.08.2026

07.08.2026PAX environmental expert Wim Zwijnenburg estimates the spill at 800 sq km, with the sheen now 90 km long, nearly double its length of a week earlier.

07.08.2026

10.08.2026Oman issues its first public disclosure confirming a slick of 390 sq km within 7 km of the coast and announces engineering interventions to address the hull.

10.08.2026

What is at stake. The Hallaniyat Islands sit inside a nature reserve established by royal decree in 2025. It is home to endangered Arabian Sea humpback whales, one of the world's smallest and most isolated whale populations, plus Socotra cormorants, nesting green and loggerhead turtles, and coral reefs. Taimur Al Said of Oman's Environment Authority says oil is already killing turtles and birds and damaging coral. The monsoon season is hampering cleanup, and forecasters warn the slick could drif

> The situation surrounding the Caroline Bezengi is yet another alarming example of the serious environmental risks posed by Russia's so-called shadow fleet.

How cleanup works at this scale. A spill of 800 sq km cannot be contained by booms alone. The response requires dispersant aircraft to spray across the affected area, booms and skimmer vessels to collect surface oil before it reaches the coast or sinks to the seafloor, and controlled burning of any thicker accumulations offshore. Oman is coordinating aerial surveillance, diver teams, and satellite environmental modelling. Officials are also planning to transfer the crude cargo from the stricken

The shadow fleet problem is bigger than one ship. Russia currently operates an estimated 400 to 600 shadow fleet vessels carrying sanctioned oil around the world. Many are ageing, uninsured, and uninspected. The Caroline Bezengi is not the first such ship to suffer a catastrophic failure at sea, and environmental experts warn it will not be the last. The International Maritime Organization has no current mechanism to compel inspections of sanctioned vessels, and the gap in liability means no sin

[Al Jazeera: Oman trying to contain extensive oil spill from stricken tanker](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/10/oman-trying-to-contain-extensive-oil-spill-from-stricken-tanker?utm_source=slatesource)

[NBC News: Oil spill off Oman from tanker under Russian sanctions spreads over huge area](https://www.nbcnews.com/world/middle-east/oil-spill-oman-tanker-sanctions-russia-spreads-huge-area-rcna591707?utm_source=slatesource)