The observation, carried out with the DRAGO-2 infrared camera, demonstrates the capability of technology developed by the IAC in the Canary Islands to detect and monitor hydrocarbon spills in the ocean
The ALISIO-1 satellite, the first space mission of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has captured an oil slick associated with the tanker Caroline Bezengi, which is grounded near the Omani island of Al Qibiliya, in the Al Hallaniyat archipelago, in the Arabian Sea.
The image, obtained on 22 September with the DRAGO-2 infrared camera, makes it possible to distinguish the extent of the spill around the vessel and provides a new demonstration of the capabilities of this technology, developed in the Canary Islands by the IACTEC-Espacio team, for Earth observation and the monitoring of phenomena with environmental impact.
The detection and monitoring of fuel spills in the ocean is, in fact, one of the applications for which ALISIO-1 and DRAGO-2 were designed, alongside the monitoring of wildfires, volcanoes, floods, desertification processes and crop development.
A camera especially sensitive to the presence of oil
The image obtained by ALISIO-1 is a false-colour composite created from the two spectral bands of DRAGO-2, centred at 1100 and 1600 nanometres. Both are located in the so-called short-wave infrared, or SWIR, a part of the light spectrum that is invisible to the human eye but can provide information about terrestrial and marine surfaces that cannot be seen in a conventional photograph.
The band around 1100 nanometres is particularly interesting for this type of observation. Oil spills and the mixtures of oil and water that form on the sea surface show a characteristic response in this region of the spectrum, which can help distinguish them from the surrounding water.
This characteristic makes DRAGO-2 an instrument especially sensitive to the presence of hydrocarbons. By combining the information obtained in its two bands, the team can highlight the slick and study its distribution across the sea surface.
The IACTEC-Espacio team has also compared the ALISIO-1 observation with images obtained by the Sentinel satellites, within the European Copernicus programme. This type of comparison helps place the data obtained by the IAC mission in context and assess the value of ALISIO-1 as a platform complementary to major international Earth observation missions, a methodology the team has already applied in previous observations.
Technology developed in the Canary Islands
DRAGO-2 is a compact camera designed to observe the Earth in the short-wave infrared and developed entirely by IACTEC-Espacio. On board ALISIO-1, it offers a resolution of approximately 50 metres per pixel, compared with around 300 metres per pixel for its predecessor, DRAGO-1. This improvement makes it possible to study localised phenomena on terrestrial and marine surfaces in greater detail.
ALISIO-1, an acronym for Advanced Land-Imaging Satellite for Infrared Observations, was launched in December 2023 and is the IAC’s first satellite dedicated to Earth observation. In addition to DRAGO-2, it carries an optical communications module using laser technology.
One of the advantages of having an in-house mission is the possibility of scheduling observations over specific areas of interest when orbital and acquisition conditions allow. This flexibility makes it possible to use ALISIO-1 to study specific phenomena and test, in real cases, the applications for which its technology was designed.
The satellite is currently operated in collaboration with Open Cosmos, through an agreement with the IAC. The company, which was also responsible for the design and manufacture of the satellite platform, operates ALISIO-1 and enables the observations planned by the IACTEC-Espacio team to be carried out. Other companies in the space sector, including Deimos and D-Orbit, also participated in the development of the mission.
The observation of the Caroline Bezengi now makes it possible to validate one of these applications using a real case of marine pollution: the detection and monitoring of hydrocarbon spills from small satellites.
An oil spill monitored from space
The Caroline Bezengi remains grounded in a rocky area near Al Qibliyah Island, part of Oman’s Al Hallaniyat archipelago. The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology of Oman has reported on salvage and spill-containment operations, carried out in collaboration with national authorities and international specialists and hampered by the weather and sea conditions in the area.
The incident that left the tanker stranded occurred in June 2026. Various reports have stated that the vessel suffered damage before running aground, but the exact cause of the incident has not been conclusively established. Since then, the authorities and response teams have focused their efforts on reducing the environmental consequences of the spill.
The incident has been monitored using different satellite observation systems. In August, Omani authorities estimated that the visible surface pollution covered around 400 square kilometres, although the extent and distribution of an oil slick can change significantly due to currents, wind and waves.
Applications for the Canary Islands
Beyond this specific case, the observation highlights the value of having in-house technologies capable of detecting similar phenomena in other regions, including waters near the Canary Islands.
Hydrocarbon spills can affect large marine areas and evolve rapidly depending on environmental conditions. Instruments capable of observing them from space can provide complementary information on their extent and evolution and contribute to the monitoring of this type of emergency.
Since entering orbit, ALISIO-1 has been used to demonstrate different applications of this technology. In August 2026, for example, the IAC published images obtained by DRAGO-2 of the wildfires in Ávila and Madrid, in which the instrument was able to identify both burned areas and active fire fronts.
The new observation extends this experience to a different field and confirms, under real conditions, another of the applications envisaged from the design stage of the mission: the monitoring of fuel spills in the ocean. This capability had already been included among the intended uses of DRAGO-2 and ALISIO-1 from the early stages of the mission.
A strategic line within CELESTE
The development of ALISIO-1 and the DRAGO cameras forms part of the IAC’s strategy to consolidate in-house capabilities in space instrumentation and Earth observation in the Canary Islands.
IACTEC-Espacio, a programme integrated into IACTEC, specialises in the design and development of payloads for small satellites. The DRAGO cameras are one of its main technological lines and were conceived to combine reduced size, weight and power consumption with short-wave infrared observation capabilities.
This activity is currently part of the Space laboratory of the CELESTE project, through which the IAC is working on new generations of instrumentation and future missions of greater complexity. The experience gained with ALISIO-1 is also particularly relevant to initiatives such as the future Constelación Islas Canarias, promoted by the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife and the IAC to move towards in-house, recurring Earth observation capabilities using small satellites.
IACTEC-Espacio was created and has grown to its current capabilities thanks, above all, to the financial and infrastructure support of the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife.
The ALISIO-1 mission has also received funding from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades through NextGenerationEU funds, via the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia del Gobierno de España.
