Oil slick reaches Umm Al Quwain as Gem No. 2 is named the likely source; Gulf flows top prewar

The UAE has confirmed that a large oil spill is coming ashore along the Gulf side of the Khor Al Beidah peninsula, and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment has closed the beaches of Umm Al Quwain and told fishermen to stay away. The coastal areas will remain closed until technical teams have completed an assessment, and containment, cleanup and remediation are under way. The ministry said the odours pose no health risk.

Windward AI detected the spill on 20 October and traced it to a VLCC about 16 miles off Umm Al Quwain. Satellite imagery shows the slick spread over more than 22 miles and covering more than 60 square miles. UAE officials have not named a source, but several reports link it to the Panama-registered VLCC Gem No. 2, of 302,783 dwt, which was struck on 9 October.

How many ships were hit this week?

UKMTO's weekly summary lists five incidents across the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, with three ships needing assistance. On 22 October a tanker was attacked about 7 nm north-east of Limah in Oman and was able to continue her voyage. Since July there have been 79 projectile strikes, 57 of them on ships using the southern route through the strait. UKMTO's tally for the year stands at 119 vessels reporting damage and 77 crew injured or killed. It counted 114 outbound and 127 inbound transits in seven days, against a recent daily average of 25 to 35 ships.

Iran claims far more. On 22 October it said it had hit four tankers conducting ship-to-ship transfers for the shuttle service Gulf states set up to move oil to larger tankers that stay outside the Gulf, and that three more were disabled by mines. None of these claims has been independently verified, and US Central Command says there are no mines in the strait. Iran's self-styled Persian Gulf Strait Authority reported 40 enforcement actions during the week and now lists 122 non-compliant ships that it says will be targeted if they cross.

The Tanzania-flagged supertanker Loyalty shows how the trade is running. She entered the Gulf twice from September to load Iraqi crude and transferred 2m barrels to another tanker in the Gulf of Oman in early October. On 16 October she was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a small boat, which damaged a fresh-water tank while she was carrying 2m barrels of Iraqi crude.

Why are flows still rising?

Kpler data show Persian Gulf oil flows averaged more than 24m b/d in the week to 18 October, above the 23.3m b/d of before the conflict. Flows through Hormuz itself, including offshore transfers in the Gulf of Oman, reached about 14m b/d, or 82% of prewar volumes, and about 40% of non-Iranian Gulf crude avoided the strait in September by pipeline, against 17% before. "The volumes remain high despite rising attacks, because profits make it worth the risk," said Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude oil analysis at Kpler. Freight for a VLCC from the Gulf to China was close to a record $37.37 per barrel, and war-risk cover has risen to as much as 10% of hull value from less than 3%. Brent was trading around $115 a barrel on 23 October.

This story is part of the Maritime Briefing of 25 October 2026.