Copied from the CDWS statement on oil spill
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Egypt’s Chamber of Diving and Watersports (CDWS) can confirm all member diving and watersports centres are operating as normal in the resorts of El Gouna and Hurghada following the recent oil spill. The spill, which has been classified as ‘limited’, is thought to have been caused by a leak at an offshore Red Sea oil rig situated 40 miles north of El Gouna.
According to latest information received by the CDWS, the main concentration of oil and the most polluted area is far north of El Gouna near a bird sanctuary. Around 12 hotels in the Hurghada and El Gouna area reported oil spills on beaches, however, the clean up of these areas for the last few days has been running successfully. It is hoped; most, if not all, oil washed up on the beaches will be cleared.
The Environment Affairs Agency (EEAA), together with the Center for the Combat of Petroleum Pollution and the Red Sea Protectorates Authority, is overseeing the clean-up operation.
CDWS cannot confirm the extent of the damage caused, however, CDWS member operations in the area have reported little signs of the spill. Dive centres from both El Gouna and Hurghada area, including Aquarius, Ilios Dive Club and Blue Brothers, said their guides had seen no signs of oil on the reefs and that following the clean up, most of the spill on shore had been cleared.
Hurghada-based conservation organisation HEPCA said in a recent statement that the efforts to contain the impact of the oil spill had been very successful.
‘More than 90 per cent of the beaches north of Hurghada were cleaned and the manual collection method has proven to be very successful,’ said the HEPCA statement. ‘Most of the hotels and resorts have informed us that their beaches are back to normal. More efforts are expected regarding the clean up of the northern islands of Um El Luhaimat and Tawila which are located around 30 miles north of Hurghada.’