A large oil spill off the coast of northern Syria may be larger than initially thought and may be threatening the eastern coast of Cyprus, according to a new satellite imagery analysis.
Fuel oil spillage from the power plant at Baniyas, Syria is about to completely wreck the entire eastern coastline of Cyprus. Could news organizations kindly direct some more attention to this pressing matter? Thanks /TT https://t.co/cizT8xDh83
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) August 30, 2021
The satellite imagery analysis by Orbital EOS was shared on Twitter by Wim Zwijnenburg, a contributor at the investigative site Bellingcat and project leader at PAX, a Dutch peace organization. Zwijnenburg stated that the spill seems to cover almost 386 square miles (1,000 square kilometers), although more work is needed to figure out exactly how big the oil slick is.
Last week, a crack in a fuel tank at the Baniyas Thermal Station led to large quantities of fuel being poured into the sea. The tank was filled with 15,000 tons of fuel, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
Mahmoud Ramadan, director-general of the General Establishment for Electricity Generation, told SANA that the incident was not caused by an act of sabotage.
Cleanup efforts are being conducted by the Syrian government along the Syrian coast.
Satellite imagery from Planet satellite imagery showed a miles-long oil slick extending off the coast of Syria and spreading into the Mediterranean Sea.
As of Sunday, Israel's Environmental Protection Ministry reported that the oil slick was being carried northward by coastal streams and did not pose a threat to Israel's shores.
Yoav Ratner, the coordinator of the National Marine Oil Spill Contingency Plan, was in constant contact with the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) in Malta in order to monitor the incident and track if it poses a threat to Israel's coast. Israel has also offered its aid to REMPEC.
The latest information shows that there is no direct danger to Israel's shores, as the pollution continues to flow northward and spreads over an area of about 46 square miles (120 square kilometers). However, sea currents that are pushing the oil northward could change and move in other directions, including towards Israel, so the ministry is continuing to monitor the oil slick.
The oil spill comes just months after an oil spill caused large amounts of oil to coat Israel's shores in February, with the Environmental Protection Ministry blaming the tanker EMERALD, which carried Iranian oil, for the pollution.