The leadership of the port of the emirate of Fujairah determined the cause of the oil spill in January.
Musa Murad, general manager of the port in the emirate of Fujairah, UAE, announced that the oil spill on January 26 was the result of an unauthorized cleaning of the holds of tankers passing by the coast.
To solve this problem, according to the general manager of the port of Fujairah, the vessels will be monitored around the clock.
Captain Murad said the port is working with the Ministry of Climate Change and the Environment and the UAE Armed Forces to solve this problem.
In addition to individual states, the Persian Gulf is controlled by the Maritime Emergency Mutual Aid Center and the Regional Organization for the Protection of the Marine Environment. Captain Murad said the situation requires even closer monitoring.
The January oil spill adversely affected marine residents, as well as the tourism industry of the emirate.
According to the UAE Federal Law No. 24, all marine vehicles are prohibited from dumping oil waste in the country's waters. The punishment for the violation includes imprisonment and fines of up to 1 million dirhams ($ US 272 thousand). However, most of these incidents occur in international waters.
"The UAE has passed laws prohibiting the discharge of waste and oil sludge into the water by hundreds of tankers operating in the region," said Salah Al-Ricey, director of the Department of Sustainable Development of Fisheries of the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Al-Ricey added that the ministry is currently working on improving the system for monitoring and detecting oil spills.
