CAIRO - A vessel spilled 3,000 tonnes of heavy fuel into the Suez Canal on Monday after running aground and hitting the western bank of the waterway, the Suez Canal Authority said.
The ship, named by the authority as the Grigoroussa 1, spread the fuel over a distance of 20 km (12 miles) towards the southern end of the canal while passing through from north to south.
The authority has sent out boats with booms to contain large patches and to treat them with foam, officials said.
Tugs have towed the vessel to the port of Suez, at the southern end of the canal, and impounded it for pollution, the authority said in a statement.
A marine biologist said the oil would probably move southwards into the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea but not necessarily as far as the sensitive coral reefs at the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.
"The canal and the northern end of the Gulf of Suez are already quite polluted but it could affect some fisheries," added the biologist, who asked not to be named.
Another expert said it would be easier to contain the oil in a narrow waterway such as the Suez Canal than in the open sea.
Traffic through the canal was not affected.
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
