Environmental risks grow as Iran war traps oil tankers in Strait of Hormuz

Oil tankers and cargo ships line up in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, the United Arab Emirates, on March 11.

Photo: AP The risks of environmental calamity in the Strait of Hormuz are mounting with each passing week of the Iran conflict, conservationists have warned, as giant tankers filled with fuel are trapped in a small area and Iran continues to fire missiles and drones at Gulf oil assets.

The potential for catastrophe in the waterway was sharpened on Monday when a Kuwaiti crude tanker was set ablaze at Dubai Port in an Iranian attack that damaged its hull, sparking warnings of a possible oil spill.

The Strait of Hormuz, a neck of water between Iran and Oman, is critical for oil and gas exports and nitrogen-based fertilisers from Gulf producers – including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – to Asia and beyond.

Greenpeace International has said that with at least 21 billion litres of oil trapped on tankers there, a major spill in the Gulf could damage fragile marine habitats, leading to dire consequences for people, animals and plants in the region.

The Gulf’s waters are home to seagrass meadows and coral habitats that support one of the world’s largest dugong populations, as well as the endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphins.

Marine scientists say the danger lies not only in the volume of oil now concentrated in the conflict-hit waterway but also in the Gulf’s geography, which makes it especially ill-suited to absorb a major spill.

An illustration shows the location of the Strait of Hormuz, which is critical for oil and gas exports.

Photo: Reuters According to Aileen Tan, director of Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, the Gulf is shallow and only weakly connected to the open sea through the strait, making it vulnerable to any oil slicks. “These increase both the duration and intensity of ecological exposure compared to open-ocean spills,” Tan said.

Oil coating sediment and root structures can cause long-term damage to mangroves, while spills that cloud the surface can affect seagrasses through reduced light and sediment contamination.

Open waters, she added, provided greater dilution and dispersal capacity for the dangerous cargo plying through the strait.

Kpler, a commodity tracking data firm, said about 200 tankers were “drifting” in the Gulf region as of Monday. “Close to 70 per cent of the tankers are carrying cargo,” Nhway Khin Soe, a junior crude oil market

原文链接: 南华早报