Two oil spills tainted the waters of Eilat, in the Red Sea, this weekend – one on Friday morning, and another on Saturday morning and MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) said: “During the deliberations of the subcommittee on oil dangers in the Gulf of Eilat, we discovered an alarming picture of neglect and an inability to cope.”
The Oil Terminal in Eilat (Photo: Pikiwiki)
Saturday’s spill was caused by a Turkish-owned Panamanian ship, while the source of Friday’s remains unknown, but it is suspected to have come from the same source, the Environmental Protection Ministry said on Saturday.
Friday morning’s spill of light fuel oil was discovered in the Coral Beach area, located between the Tur-Yam Marina and the border of the protected coral reserve, while Saturday’s leakage was pinpointed as emanating from a ship docked in the port of Eilat, which was carrying the Panamanian flag, but under Turkish ownership, according to the ministry.
The ship was detained and investigated by the Environmental Protection Ministry’s Marine and Coastal Environment Division, a statement from the ministry said.
In reaction to the spillages, MK Khenin, chairman of the Knesset’s Environment and Health Committee, lambasted the government who opposed to the enactment of amendments to the 1952 Petroleum Law, which would provide for protections against such oil crises, his spokesman said.
“In the current situation, an oil disaster in Israel is only a question of time,” Khenin said at a public hearing in Nahariya on Saturday. “Oil drillings planned in the Mediterranean Sea bring with them new risks,” he continued.
“The Mediterranean cannot handle a disaster such as that of the Gulf of Mexico. The obsolete Petroleum Law of 1952, which doesn’t include any environmental protection measures whatsoever, is no longer suitable for Israel, and we must repair it urgently and add the environmental protection measures that we have proposed.”
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