Israel Says It Has ‘Caught’ the Ship Responsible for Country’s Worst Oil Disaster – Haaretz
Zafrir Rinat Mar. 3, 2021
Israel’s ‘long arm will reach’ all those who ‘harmed our nature, beaches and coasts,’ environmental protection minister says
Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said on Wednesday that Israel caught the ship behind the worst oil spill in Israel’s history in mid-February.
Disclosing no further details as to the ship’s location, ownership or how it was identified, Gamliel said Israel’s “long arm will reach” all those who “harmed our nature, beaches and coasts.”
An estimated 1,000 tons of black tar from the leak washed up on over 90 percent of the country’s 195 kilometer (120 mile) coastline. The government is awaiting the results of water quality testing before potentially reopening some beaches, which remain closed along the coast.
Water samples from various points along the coast were taken for analysis soon after the oil began washing up.
After the pollution was first spotted on February 17, the Environmental Protection Ministry said the most likely source of the oil was an unreported spill of perhaps dozens of tons of oil from a tanker. The ministry has not yet disclosed the type of oil involved, but researchers from Hebrew University’s Hermann Institute of Earth Sciences who collected samples of the tar said that they believe it is from crude oil.
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The ministry identified roughly 10 ships in the region as possible culprits. Subsequently the names of dozens of other ships were added to the list. The list of suspected ships was again narrowed to about 10, with assistance from foreign officials.
On Sunday the Environmental Protection Ministry said that the Minerva Helen, a Greek tanker, had been cleared of suspicion for the oil spill, following an inspection of the ship.
On Saturday, a team of Israeli investigators from the ministry’s marine environment protection division examined the tanker, which is anchored at the port of Piraeus.
The ministry said that, following a “meticulous, professional and comprehensive” investigation carried out in cooperation with the authorities in Greece and without advance notice to the ship’s operators, it was ruled out the ship as the source of the spill.
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Ship accused of Israel oil spill shown anchored off Iran coast – In pictures – Jerusalem Post
Photographs of the vessel, which Israel has accused of ‘eco-terrorism’, show the ship anchored off the Iranian coast.
By ALEX WINSTON, LAHAV HARKOV MARCH 4, 2021
Israel has named Libyan-owned Emerald as the ship that caused a huge oil spill that severely damaged the coastline and its environment, in what it described as an act of “eco-terrorism.”
The Emerald was seen anchored off Iran’s Kharg Island on January 17, according to photographs released by the Environmental Protection Ministry on Thursday. The tar from the spillage reached Israel’s shores on February 17, causing immense damage and harm to the coastline, wildlife habitats and marine life, and polluting beaches.
The Emerald took on an estimated 112,000 tons of crude oil in Iran before encircling the Gulf and entering Egyptian waters and passing through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean.
Despite the evidence, defense sources said that both the Mossad and the IDF were blindsided by Environmental Protection Minister Gila Gamliel’s accusation that Iran was behind the spill. The sources said they could not confirm the veracity of Gamliel’s claims, and that neither the IDF nor the Mossad had been involved in the investigation.
One of the photos released on Thursday shows the Emerald in Israel’s waters near Haifa, and two others show the oil slick in the Mediterranean moving closer to Israel’s shores.
Another shows the tanker in rendezvous with another ship west of Syria that had its transmitter turned off. The Emerald’s displacement was identified as reducing from 14.3 meters under the water line to 8.5 meters, which indicates that it unloaded its consignment to the other ship while at sea.
A further photo shows the Emerald unloading 750,000 barrels of Iranian oil to a tanker called Lotus, a Syrian ship flying an Iranian flag. The photographs were made public by TankerTrackers.com, an online service that tracks and reports shipments and storage of crude oil, and passed on to the Environmental Protection Ministry.
The Emerald turned off its automatic identification system (AIS), which transmits its location to other ships in the area, as it entered Egyptian waters. It turned its AIS on as it passed through the Suez Canal, and then off again as it approached Israel’s shores.
The ship remained within dozens of kilometers of Israel’s shores, inside Israeli waters for nearly a whole day, spilling large amounts of oil on February 1-2, with its AIS turned off.
It then continued on to Syria, where it turned on its transmitter, and returned to Iran again turning off its AIS as it passed by Israel. The ship is currently in Iran.