Satellite imagery this week captured a suspected oil spill covering dozens of square kilometers of sea near Iran's main oil hub on Kharg Island. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
The suspected spill, which appears as a gray-white slick in the images, covered waters west of the island for a length of 8 km (5 miles). This is visible on images from the Copernicus Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-3 satellites taken between May 6–8.
"The slick visually corresponds to oil," noted Leon Moreland, a researcher at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, estimating its area at approximately 45 square kilometers.
Louis Goddard, co-founder of Data Desk, an analytics company specializing in climate and commodities markets, also agreed that the images likely show an oil slick. According to him, it could be the largest since the start of the conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran 70 days ago.
The US military and Iran's mission to the UN in Geneva did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the images.
The cause of the potential spill and its source are currently unknown, Moreland added, noting that images from May 8 show no signs of new active leaks.
Kharg Island, where the US says military targets were previously destroyed during the conflict, is the hub for 90% of Iran's oil exports, much of which goes to China.
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