Egyptian authorities blocked six big ships from entering the Suez Canal on Tuesday because of an oil spill in the waterway, a Suez Canal Authority official said. The ships were told not to enter the canal because they had heavy and highly flammable cargoes, the official said. Small and medium-sized boats were allowed into the canal, which is the fastest shipping route from Europe to Asia.

Some 3,000 tonnes of oil was spilt into the canal on Monday when a vessel named by the Suez Canal Authority as Grigoroussa 1 ran aground and hit the western bank of the canal. Clean up operations were still under way and foam had been used to stop the oil from moving, the official said.

An environmental official estimated the cost of the environmental damage at 48 million Egyptian pounds ($8.4 million). Prosecutors in Suez decided to summon the captain for questioning and to keep the vessel impounded. Uncontained, biologists say the oil will probably move southwards into the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea, but not necessarily as far as the sensitive coral reefs at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.

Other experts say it is relatively easy to contain the oil in a narrow waterway such as the Suez Canal. The Egyptian state news agency MENA said the oil spill led to a fire at a hotel on the banks of the canal on Tuesday. The fire damaged two boats, some trees and the hotel disco, it added. There were no casualties.
(Planet Ark, 01/03/06)