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Second Oil Slick Spotted Near Iran’s Kharg Island as Larger Spill Drifts Toward UAE and Qatar
A new suspected oil slick covering 12 to 20 square kilometers was spotted at 11 a.m. local time on 2026-05-11 near Iran’s Kharg Island export hub, one day after U.N. officials warned of potential environmental catastrophe in the Strait of Hormuz crisis. The larger spill identified on May 8 covers about 65 square kilometers and is moving toward Qatar’s exclusive economic zone.
May 10, 7:23 PM·2m read1 source
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M. local time on 2026-05-11, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward AI. The approximate visible area of the new slick measured between 12 to 20 square kilometers.
N. officials warned the previous day that oil spills in the region could trigger an environmental catastrophe amid the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis. The larger spill, first identified on May 8 west of Kharg Island, covers about 65 square kilometers and is visible in satellite images as a gray-and-white slick.
It is estimated at tens of thousands of barrels. The larger spill has been steadily moving away toward the southwest of Kharg Island, Dr. Kaveh Madani told Fox News Digital. Windward AI reported that the larger spill is believed to be crude rather than bunker fuel.
It is unlikely to have come from a ship and possibly originated from pipeline issues or a failed ship-to-ship transfer. The larger spill could pass through Qatar’s exclusive economic zone within about four days and could have possible landfall near Al Mirfa in the United Arab Emirates in roughly 13 days. Dr.
Kaveh Madani said officials should worry about the cause of the slick and monitor things carefully to see if there are new developments. "If this slick gets bigger, we should be seriously worried about there being a leakage of aging infrastructure," Madani said. The slick is near a zone with a heavy concentration of pipelines and energy infrastructure.
Water circulation in the Persian Gulf is slow, he added. Similar oil spill instances during the Gulf wars and the Iran-Iraq War impacted coastal communities, the fishing industry, marine life and even the intake of desalination plants, Madani said.
