Another oil leak was visible along the coastline of Fujairah, this weekend. The east coast had a series of oil slicks last year, prompting a debate in the FNC which calls for firm actions. But the same shore has been hit by another damaging wave of black oil.
Federal law
According to the Federal Law 24 of 1999, all marine means of transportation are prohibited from discharging or disposing oil or oil mixture into the marine environment. The maximum penalty for such an offence is imprisonment along with a fine of Dh1 million. Those penalties don’t act as a powerful deterrent to ship owners and crew.
Dirty sea
Such discharge has an enormous impact on our waters and on those who depend upon the coastline for their livelihood. Tourists at the waterfront beach resorts at Aqah were warned to stay out of the sea.
Last year, fishermen reported severe damage to their equipment as their vessels were stuck in harbour. This time, boats had to dispose of their contaminated catch.
Recovery
Although it had no mean of recovery, any inconvenience to visitors and traders, and the affected areas are cleaned up, the recurring impact caused by such oil leaks is hard to quantify and even harder to scrub it cleaner.
Response
Satellite tracking systems could be used to work out which vessels may be illegally discharging and to give early warnings of such events. Likewise, samples from offending slicks can be used to identify the likely culprit.
Capt Tamer Masoud, the harbour master at Fujairah port, has called for greater patrolling of our waters. We must be firm in our response to these events and we must call against them for what they are.
It is a reckless act by irresponsible crew, discharging dirty ballast water into the sea. They are not accidental spills, but are deliberate violations of the law an the offenders must be harshly penalised.
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Source: The National
