/Agencia Reuters
Oman deployed response teams toward the Caroline Bezengi, an oil tanker grounded near the Al Hallaniyat islands, off the southern governorate of Dhofar, to mitigate any potential environmental impact, according to Omani state media.
According to maritime shipping records, the vessel is subject to international sanctions and had been loaded with Russian crude before beginning its voyage.
An oil spill from the vessel -274 meters in length- has begun to spread, raising deep concern over possible damage to coastal areas and marine wildlife.
The crew of the Caroline Bezengi reported problems for the first time on June 8 off the Yemeni port of Mukalla, in the south of the country, according to two maritime security sources.
Preliminary assessments indicate that an explosion may have occurred on board the vessel registered under the flag of Cameroon.
According to LSEG data, the registered owner of the vessel is Rentoor Shipmanagement Ltd and its managing company is Villar Shipmanagement Ltd. Reuters was unable to contact those firms immediately, whose headquarters are reportedly located in China.
Sanctions
During the oil embargo imposed by the G7 and the European Union, as well as the price cap on Russian hydrocarbons, the Caroline Bezengi participated in the export of oil and its derivatives from Russian ports in the Baltic Sea and the Pacific region, according to the War Sanctions website, administered by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
Through sanctioned firms such as Sun Ship Management (United Arab Emirates) and SCF Management Services Cyprus Ltd (Cyprus), the vessel is linked to the state company Sovcomflot, Russia’s largest shipping company dedicated to supporting offshore hydrocarbon production and transporting crude oil, derivatives and liquefied natural gas for that country’s major energy players in megaprojects such as Sakhalin-1, Sakhalin-2, Varandey, Prirazlomnoye, Novy Port and Yamal LNG.
Likewise, the vessel is linked to the Cypriot firm Lagosmarine Ltd, which served as its managing company between April 2023 and January 2025. On that latter date, the United States sanctioned the company for its operations in the Russian energy sector and for its role as technical manager of an oil tanker that made repeated calls at ports in that country to load oil at a value above the set limit, a measure joined by Ukraine in August 2025.
As for the international restrictions imposed directly against the vessel, these began on October 24, 2025 with the measure adopted by the European Union, followed by Switzerland and Ukraine on December 13 of the same year. Subsequently, the blockade on the ship was extended to the United Kingdom on February 24, 2026 and, more recently, to Canada on March 25, 2026.
