Israel on Sunday expanded its search for the vessel behind an oil spill that darkened its beaches with tar after investigators suspected one of the suspect tankers.
An Israeli team, in coordination with Greek authorities, carried out a spectacular inspection of Minerva Helen while docked at the port of Piraeus Athens. There is no longer a suspicion that the vessel was to blame for the spill, the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection said.
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A collection of tar off the coast of Atlit in northern Israel caused by the Mediterranean oil spill earlier this month
(Photo: Reuters)
Minerva executive Helen had denied any connection to the oil spill.
An Israeli investigation has focused on an unidentified boat that passed about 50 km (30 miles) off the coast on Feb. 11 as the most likely source of what environmental groups cite an ecological disaster that would take years to clean up.
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Turtles were found dead from pollution by the oil spill off the coast of Israel earlier this month
(Photo: yosef segal )
As thousands of volunteers and soldiers continued to clean up the country’s beaches from lumps of sticky black tar and save marine wildlife, Israel reaffirmed its mission to seek out those who an urra.
The ministry of the environment, which has been working with European agencies, identified 10 vessels for inspection. Several of these have since been considered and the ministry said it has expanded its research to include dozens of vessels.
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Volunteers collect remnants of tar from Tel Aviv beach after oil spill caused an ecological disaster earlier this month
(Photo: Moti Kimchi)
“The oil spill had a source. We will not be aware of environmental crime and we will take every step to find the culprit,” Environment Protection Minister Gila Gamliel said.
On Saturday the Air Force confirmed that it had discovered another suspected oil spill making its way towards the Israeli coast 150 kilometers (93 miles) from the coast. The military planes were fired at the ministry’s request for the burning environment because they did not recognize the ecological threat posed earlier in the month and to the shore. protect it from its effects.