Oil Spill From Struck Tanker Reaches UAE Beaches, Prompting Closures

Oil leaking from a tanker attacked near the Strait of Hormuz is spreading along the coast of the United Arab Emirates, and authorities have closed some beaches and coastal areas as a result.

Satellite images from Monday show the early stages of a spill from a vessel whose location and dimensions match the crude oil tanker Gem No.2. By Wednesday, the images showed the slick stretching more than 35km (22 miles) from the ship. A much smaller leak had been visible on 19 October, but radar satellite imagery reviewed by BBC Verify and the intelligence firm MAIAR indicates it grew rapidly over the following two days.

The UAE said on Thursday that beaches near the northern city of Umm Al Quwain were being affected. Verified video from Friday shows oil coming ashore and turning the water black. The country's Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said it had "immediately began containment" in order to "limit environmental impacts".

Prof Steve Widdicombe, director of the Sharjah Marine Science Research Centre, told BBC Verify it was "inevitable that there will be an impact". Researchers stress, however, that it is too early to judge how severe the damage will be. That depends on the volume and type of oil spilled, how fast it evaporates or breaks down, and how effective the clean-up proves to be.

Spills can kill marine life quickly, for instance by trapping turtles, smothering the feathers of seabirds or damaging the gills of fish. Prof Widdicombe said they can also cause longer-term harm if species continue to be exposed to toxic compounds in the oil, which may affect their ability to reproduce.

The slick extends toward Siniyah and Khor Al Beidah islands, a globally recognised Key Biodiversity Area. Its habitats include corals, seagrasses and saltmarshes, and it is home to green turtles and the critically endangered Halavi guitarfish. Eoghan Darbyshire, a scientist at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, called the spill's closeness to this area the "most concerning environmental angle".

The maritime intelligence firm Vanguard reported that the Panama-flagged Gem No.2 was "struck by an unknown projectile" on 9 October, just north of the town of Al Jazeera Al Hamra, starting a fire that was later put out. Verified footage posted on social media on 10 October showed crew members running across the deck and putting on lifejackets beneath a large plume of black smoke. Iranian state media also shared footage of a matching ship ablaze, with burning oil spilling into the sea, and said the vessel had been trying to leave the Strait of Hormuz by an "unauthorized and dangerous route". The Indian consulate in Dubai said on 11 October that all 22 Indian crew members had been rescued.

Gem No.2 was one of a record number of ships reported attacked in and around the strait at the start of October. Security experts told BBC Verify that the strikes formed part of an Iranian effort to assert greater control over the waterway, in response to the US military escorting more vessels through it. Commercial ships have come under attack from both Iranian and US forces amid the conflict between the two countries.

This is not the first major spill in the area. In August, another large oil slick reached the shores of Iran's Qeshm Island, which experts said threatened wildlife, protected ecosystems and fishing communities.