Shadow fleet tanker spill in Oman's reserve leaves cleanup costs without a payer

The 2001-built Suezmax Caroline Bezengi, loaded with roughly 800,000 barrels of Russian Urals crude in Novorossiysk, exploded off southern Yemen on June 8, leaving the vessel adrift and its crew to abandon ship three days later. After drifting for weeks, it struck the rocks of Al Qibliyah in the Hallaniyat archipelago on June 30, spilling oil inside a 667-square-kilometer marine reserve established by Sultan Haitham to protect Arabian Sea humpbacks.

Satellite data suggest the spill may cover more than 2,000 square kilometers, prompting Omani authorities to deploy booms, dispersants and manual beach cleaning. Cleanup costs are projected at $200 million to $500 million, yet the dissolved owner Rentoor Shipmanagement Ltd, a Marshall Islands entity, and the ship’s Cameroonian flag provide no liable party, and no insurer has been identified. Although Oman is a signatory to the 1992 Civil Liability and Fund Conventions, the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund has declined involvement, labeling the incident an act of war. Consequently, Oman must fund the response alone, highlighting the challenges of holding shadow-fleet vessels accountable.