Israel has identified the ship responsible for the oil spill believed to be the source of a massive pollution along the country's Mediterranean coastline, Gila Gamiel, Israel's minister of environmental protection, announced on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2021) Israel has identified the ship responsible for the oil spill believed to be the source of a massive pollution along the country's Mediterranean coastline, Gila Gamiel, Israel's minister of environmental protection, announced on Wednesday.
The ministry was in charge of the investigations into the oil spill that contaminated around 160 kilometers (99.4 miles) of Israel's coastline. In the middle of February, blobs of tar and sticky oil began washing up on the country's shores and threatening wildlife. The government was forced to close beaches and organize a mass cleanup.
The local authorities suspected that the spilled oil came from a vessel caught in a storm several kilometers away from the coast. The ministry reportedly used satellite imagery and wave patterns to trace the ship responsible.
"We found the criminal ship. Those that harm our nature, our sea and our beaches cannot escape our grasp," Gamiel tweeted.
However, the name of the ship was not published.
Earlier in February 21, Gamliel told reporters that nine ships were being investigated in relation to the incident. On February 28, Israeli investigators inspected Greek oil tanker Minerva Helen as a possible culprit, but later cleared the company of suspicions. The Israeli government is considering legal action against the culprit to win compensation estimated at millions of Dollars.
