Hormuz becomes an ‘oil tanker graveyard’… Oil-covered environmental disaster becomes a reality

(Cairo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Sang-hoon = The Strait of Hormuz area, the world's largest crude oil transport route, is being reduced to a 'graveyard of oil tankers' due to projectile attacks and mine collisions amid the armed standoff between the United States and Iran.

As a huge amount of crude oil flowing from a damaged oil tanker travels with ocean currents and hits the coasts of neighboring countries, the aftermath of the armed conflict is leading to a secondary disaster called terrible marine environmental pollution.

According to the announcement by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the 12th (local time) and foreign media reports, at least five oil tankers suffered explosions or fire damage in the southern shipping route of the Strait of Hormuz over the three days from the 10th.

The night before, two very large oil tankers (VLCCs) carrying a total of more than 4 million barrels of crude oil suffered a powerful explosion and burst into flames due to an 'accident' while passing through the southern passage of the strait, which is banned from passage in Iran.

Previously, on the 10th, three ships, including an oil tanker moving while escorted by the U.S. military, collided with mines in succession and exploded, causing continued damage to ships in the strait.

Iranian authorities claim that these ships ignored their country's warnings, violated regulations, and collided with mines while relying on the blind protection of the U.S. military, while the West is weighing the possibility of an unidentified intentional attack, leading to a battle over the truth.

Oil spills from ships that were hit by projectiles or collided with mines are causing damage to the coastal countries of Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Oman's National Emergency and Disaster Management Committee convened an emergency meeting on this day to review the situation of the oil tanker stranding accident that occurred off Al Qibliya Island.

The committee began emergency response by intensively monitoring environmental pollution in the coastal waters of Musandam Province bordering the Strait of Hormuz.

This is not the first time there has been damage from an oil spill off the coast of Oman. Last August, oil leaked from the hit oil tanker 'Caroline Bezengi', leading to extensive clean-up efforts in the Halaniyat Islands, including Al Qibliya Island.

The UAE was also hit hard.

Last month, when a tanker was hit in the Gulf waters and a large amount of oil was leaked, Al Luluya Beach, a major tourist destination in Khorfakkan on the east coast, was covered in oil and completely closed, but managed to reopen on the same day.

Before the outbreak of war, the Strait of Hormuz was a key artery in the global energy supply chain through which approximately one-fifth of the world's crude oil traffic passed.

But now, marine pollution is worsening with black smoke and oil spewing out from burning oil tankers trapped under mines and gunfire.

Experts warn that the large-scale oil spill resulting from the serial attacks on oil tankers is causing irreversible damage to the marine ecosystem in the Gulf Sea.