Oil belt 'emergency' in attack on Hormuz oil tanker... Concerns about environmental disaster

(Cairo = Yonhap News) Correspondent Kim Sang-hoon = While armed attacks against ships passing through the Gulf Sea continue in the aftermath of the war in the Middle East, a large amount of oil leaked from an oil tanker hit off the coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), putting the authorities on alert.

In particular, Iran is claiming control of the Strait of Hormuz, the world's major crude oil transport route, and is targeting ships that violate the Hormuz passage regulations it has set, raising concerns about environmental disaster as well as maritime logistics.

The UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said in a statement on the 23rd (local time) that it had completely closed nearby beaches, saying, "We have detected oil spilling from an oil tanker washing up on Umm Al Quwain Beach, northern Dubai."

Authorities began immediate control and removal of contaminants. The neighboring Emirate of Sharjah also restricted access to Al Hamriya Beach as a preemptive precaution.

The background to this oil spill is the armed conflict surrounding the Strait of Hormuz.

Since war in the Middle East broke out last February due to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeting Iran, Iran has effectively controlled the Strait of Hormuz.

In particular, Iran has asserted control over the Strait of Hormuz since signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the United States, and is indiscriminately attacking ships attempting to pass through the strait outside of its designated route.

In response, the United States is blocking Iranian ports and escorting passing oil tankers, but civilian merchant ships and oil tankers passing through these waters are exposed to the extreme risk of being sunk at any moment.

In fact, the ship that leaked oil this time was confirmed to be the Panama-shipped oil tanker 'GEM NO.2', which was attacked by a projectile and caught fire off the coast of the UAE on the 9th.

This ship, owned by a Taiwanese shipping company, was operating near the Strait of Hormuz carrying 2 million barrels of crude oil from Saudi Arabia last March.

As a result of satellite photo analysis by PAX, a Dutch non-governmental organization (NGO), it was found that a huge oil belt measuring 40 km in length and 190 km2 in area was formed around the hit oil tanker, and that it had spread to a point just 6 km away from the coast.

Due to the oil washing up on the coast, an extreme odor is emanating from northern Dubai and Sharjah.

One Sharjah resident complained of anxiety, saying, “I thought there was a gas explosion because I smelled a chemical smell as if oil had been poured from 10 gas stations.”

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) branch of Greenpeace, an international environmental group, expressed concern, saying, "If the spill is crude oil, it will hit the beach and cause fatal and serious pollution to the marine ecosystem, including sea turtles and birds."