Satellite imagery captured on Monday (August 17) showed the extent of an oil spill in waters off Al-Qibliyyah Island in Oman's Hallaniyat archipelago, more than a month after the tanker Caroline Bezengi ran aground, and has been leaking crude ever since.

The images, provided by the European Union's Copernicus Sentinel-2 program, showed a slick consistent with an oil leak emanating from a ship stranded near Al-Qibliyyah Island off Oman's southern coast in the Arabian Sea.

The spill from the Caroline Bezengi tanker — apparently the result of an unexplained attack on the vessel in June — has spread around a nature reserve and hit Oman's coastline on Wednesday (August 12).

The vessel, which was carrying an estimated 800,000 barrels of Russian oil and was under international sanctions, ran aground on June 30 near an Omani marine nature reserve that is home to wildlife including humpback whales and Socotra cormorants.

Oman has been coordinating the salvage operation with risk-management company Ambrey as part of efforts to contain environmental damage from a spill that some estimates put at 2,000 sq km. The government's environment agency gave an official estimate of 400 sq km on August 10 but has yet to issue an update.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. VARIOUS SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWING OIL SPILL (BOTTOM LEFT) IN WATERS OFF AL-QIBLIYYAH ISLAND, OMAN

2. VARIOUS SATELLITE IMAGES SHOWING CAROLINE BEZENGI TANKER (LEFT) NEAR AREA OF OIL SPILL IN WATERS OFF AL-QIBLIYYAH ISLAND, OMAN