Oil spill a cause for major concern during war

A Russian oil tanker carrying 800,000 barrels of oil, on its way to India, ran aground near an island off the coast of Oman. The oil spill is spreading.

It has covered about 2,000 square kilometres, and it is likely to spread farther as more oil leaks into the water as the ship sinks. No one seems to know how to handle the disaster at sea. The ship is not insured, and it is under US sanctions.

That makes it all the more difficult. At the very basic level, no one seems to know how handle oil spills at sea. No mechanism is in place to handle it. It is surprising that this should be the case. Majority of crude oil is transported across the seas. It is indeed the case that in proportion to the traffic of oil tankers, the mishaps are relatively fewer.

This does not mean there is no need to evolve ways of dealing with the exigency. And this is especially so in times of war, as it is now the case, both in the Black Sea with the four-year war between Russia and Ukraine raging, and the war between the United States and Israel and Iran. Iran in its response targeted its Gulf neighbours.

The safety of civilian shipping has to be guaranteed by all the combatant states trhough an international convention though the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is in place. But as it seems to be ineffective, there is need for that extra convention or agreement or protocol to protect civilian shipping traffic. In the last few months, several sailors and officers on the ships of countries who are not involved in the war were killed or injured in the ongoing war between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Russian oil tanker, Caroline Bezengi, has passed through conflict zones. Firt it was the Black Sea. The ship started from Novorossiysk, and after passing through Black Sea, went through the Suez Canal. Then it passed the coast of Yemen where Houthis, the Yemeni militants, had been targeting American and Israeli shipping. No one has claimed responsibility for the apparent blast in the oil tanker as it passed by the coast of Yemen.

The intergovernmental organisation, the IOPC Funds, which deals with the environmental impact of oil spills, said that it would involve itself in the present case though the Omani island where the oil tanker is sinking and oil slick is spreading is a marine reserve.

Oil spill expert Amos, CEO of SkyTruth, says, “A nightmare scenario is there’s no adequate response to keep the worst from happening.” The United Nations International Maritime Organisation (IMO) says that the monsoon conditions made access to the vessel difficult and delayed salvage operations. The IMO spokesperson said, “Oil spill contingency planning is in place.” According to an Omanese estimate, the oil spill has spread to 400 square kilometres. Environmental agencies believe that the extent of the damage is much larger. According to Hanen Keskes of Greepeace, “The affected area went from 45 square kilometres by the end of July to 150 (square kilometres) at the beginning of August. And then within two days, it quadruples to 600 by the 4th or 5th of August.”

What is mssing of course is reliable data of the spill and the damage to marine life. The IMO should have the credible data bank which should inspire the confidence and trust of all those involved. Private agencies are able to track the shipping traffic across the seas. What is most urgently needed is the emergency plan which can be implemented at short notice.