Despite successes in fighting oil after an accident in the port of Brunsbüttel, the Kiel Canal will remain closed to shipping at least until January 3rd. Data recorded by a sensor aircraft showed that there was only a small amount of oil on the water, as the emergency command announced. The artificial waterway will remain closed for the time being so as not to impede the cleaning work on the embankment.
Over Christmas, emergency services had made progress in scavenging for oil on the water. “We have now also absorbed most of the recoverable oil,” said a spokesman for the emergency command. The “thick layers” have been eliminated. Since Tuesday morning, the work has continued with the help of special ships and also on land. The CCME assumed that a large part of the oil remaining on the water would be absorbed during the course of Tuesday. Task forces and ships would gradually be withdrawn. About 120 helpers were still on duty on Tuesday.
However, extensive and lengthy work is still required on the banks and embankments, on contaminated ships and on the port and lock systems. This is to prevent oil from getting into uncontaminated areas as far as possible. According to the Havariekommando, private companies are increasingly being involved. A thin film of oil is currently still visible on the water in some areas.
The busy Kiel Canal was closed on December 21 after large quantities of oil spilled due to a leak in a pipeline. The cause was initially unclear. The canal between Kiel on the Baltic Sea and Brunsbüttel (Dithmarschen district) at the mouth of the Elbe in the North Sea is considered the world’s busiest artificial sea waterway.
Check flights took place on Sunday. In the meantime, around 150 people from local fire brigades and from the Technical Relief Agency (THW) from Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania were on duty. However, the work to eliminate the consequences of the accident is taking longer than initially expected. A release of the waterway, initially planned for Saturday, therefore had to be postponed.
The head of the emergency command, Robby Renner, had addressed the emergency services in an audio message. “I would like to thank you for your energetic commitment and cannot appreciate your achievement enough,” it says. The women and men involved put aside private interests during the holidays in order to help.
