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The anti-pollution ship »Scharhörn« on the Kiel Canal on December 24th
Photo: Jonas Walzberg / dpa
The clean-up work after the oil spill in the port of Brunsbüttel made progress over the Christmas period.
"We have now also absorbed the majority of the absorbable oil," said a spokesman for the emergency command of the dpa news agency.
The "thick layers" on the water of the Kiel Canal have been removed.
According to the current status, the artificial waterway will not be released before tomorrow, Wednesday.
The busy Kiel Canal was closed on December 21 after large quantities of oil spilled due to a leak in a pipeline.
A total of around 150 men and women tried to curb the spread of the oil over the holidays.
There was only a brief interruption on the evening of December 24 to give the helpers the opportunity to be with their families.
Work resumed on the morning of December 25th.
More than 100 emergency services are still involved
In the meantime, around 120 emergency services and three special ships are still involved, said the spokesman for the emergency command on Tuesday.
According to NDR, the mission recently focused on the Brunsbüttel harbor basin.
An aircraft equipped with sensor technology was recently used to monitor the spread of the oil film.
The amount of oil in the water was estimated at around twelve cubic meters.
The canal between Kiel on the Baltic Sea and Brunsbüttel (Dithmarschen district) at the mouth of the Elbe in the North Sea is considered the world's busiest artificial sea waterway.
Despite the massive use, the oil spill already had visible consequences for the animal world: According to the NDR, several oil-smeared birds had been sighted.
fek/dpa
