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330 meters of death blow will soon sail into the Gulf of Eilat

While we are preoccupied with the corona crisis, a dangerous plan is being formulated in which dozens of additional giant tankers a year will transport oil between the Emirates to Eilat - and from there to Europe.

The bay will become more congested, and one leak is enough to severely damage the sea and tourism.

Peace with the Emirates must not leave a black mark

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• Eilat Bay

• oil

• United Arab Emirates

• EPA

Noa Shenkar

Friday, February 19, 2021, 6 p.m.

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In the video: The signing ceremony of the agreement with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain (Photo: GPO and Reuters, Editing: Itai Amram)

While the EU and Israel are promoting huge sums beyond environmentally friendly energies, in recognition of the contribution of oil and its products to the climate crisis, recently, absurdly, we also hear voices boasting of signing a "historic agreement" during which dozens more huge tanks are expected to arrive in the near future. For EPA facilities (Europe-Asia pipeline) in Eilat. EPA has already signed a binding memorandum of understanding with MED-RED to operate an overland bridge for transporting oil between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

It is possible that on your next vacation in Eilat you will see a huge tanker from your hotel window, if not two or more.

And for the benefit of those unfamiliar with tank sizes, "giant" does not have a degree enough to describe such a huge vessel.

Imagine three football fields connected to each other, either the Eiffel Tower lying on its side, or you will double the Azrieli round building.

The giant tankers that will transport the oil between the United Arab Emirates and Eilat are about 330 meters long and about 60 meters wide.

It's really not something that can be painted blue to be assimilated into the landscape.

The dramatic increase in traffic congestion in the Gulf waters could harm the marine environment and increase the chance of a malfunction leading to an environmental disaster.

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To the full article

The future view of the hotel rooms in Eilat?

Oil tanker in Egypt Hormuz in the Persian Gulf (Photo: Reuters)

I will not expand on the political and economic "logic", this is not my field.

But as a marine biologist who specializes in the effects of pollutants on marine animals, I assure you that oil and coral reefs do not go together.

A huge tanker anchored 500 meters from a coral reserve, in which inexhaustible efforts for conservation and protection have been invested, is an Israeli invention.

It is forbidden to take unnecessary risks here that will cause the citizens of Israel to no longer have such a spectacular coral reef.

Much more than a black stain

As with all transport vehicles, accidents can happen to tankers, and oil that is transported in tankers, which passes to pipes and from there to aggregation tanks - is naturally leaking.

This is evidenced by the great oil disasters such as the famous Axon-Valdez tanker in Alaska that ran aground and caused the death of hundreds of thousands of animals, and as the oil leak in the Evrona Nature Reserve about six years ago, whose effects are still evident.

When it comes to coral reefs the danger is even more serious, and countless studies have already demonstrated the irreversible effect of petroleum compounds on the growth, reproduction, and survival of the many corals and animals that find their way in the coral reef.

The consequences of oil pollution are reflected not only in the visible black stain.

There are dangerous compounds in oil that harm a very wide range of animals, including humans, so even if equipped with the latest technologies to deal with leak events, any case of malfunction necessarily causes damage in the worst case, and irreversible environmental disaster in the worst case.

At best, the malfunction will cause damage, and at worst - to an irreversible environmental disaster (Photo: Imaging: Doron Barza)

It seems obvious to the citizens of Israel that on days when they can be repaired, they can get in the car, get to Eilat in a few hours and walk lightly towards a beautiful reef.

There are few places in the world where a reef is so developed and so accessible to the general public.

Therefore, it is important to understand that the opposition to turning Eilat into an oil city is not just the struggle of the city's residents or the struggle of scientists working in the field.

Eilat is a city of freedom and the sun, and it must remain so.

To that end each of us must take an unequivocal position that opposes the agreement transporting oil from the UAE EAPC. There are also associations and institutions have partnered for this purpose under the hem Save Red-Med.

All over the world show citizens, especially young ones, they force real change in relation to the environment, and here the power to mobilize for a purpose - to agree to demolish the treasure at your expense. peace with the United Arab Emirates has promoted long-term, in a way that will leave behind a black spot.

Prof. Noa Shenkar is a researcher and lecturer in the school of Zoology, Faculty of Science Life and the Museum of Nature at Tel Aviv University

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