WORLD
Oil spills from tanker as ships attacked
Many residents in the north of the country have reported oil smells on social media in recent days.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The UAE reported an oil spill from a tanker off its coast on Friday, as numerous vessels in Gulf waters come under attack during the Middle East war.
The authorities “detected a tanker oil spill affecting Umm Al Quwain’s beaches,” the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said in a statement, referring to an emirate north of Dubai.
It said “teams immediately began containment, cordoning, clean-up and remediation... to limit environmental impacts,” adding that the emirate’s beaches had been closed.
Many residents in the north of the country have reported oil smells on social media in recent days, including residents in northern districts of Dubai.
Frequent attacks on ships have been reported in recent weeks near the Strait of Hormuz, at the heart of the conflict between Iran and the United States.
The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on 9 October that a vessel had been hit by a projectile off the UAE coast, causing a fire that was later brought under control.
According to the maritime security company Vanguard, the vessel in question was the oil tanker GEM NO.2, sailing under the Panamanian flag.