16 tons of goods, waste recovered from sunken ship in Dubai Creek

Dubai - To ensure uninterrupted navigational movement and preservation of the marine environment.

Dubai Municipality cadres have recovered the remnants of a commercial ship - in record time - loaded with goods in the Dubai Creek weighing a total of 16.3 tons, comprising waste.
The clearing of waste from the Creek has contributed towards ensuring uninterrupted navigational movement and preservation of the marine environment.
 
Eng. Talib Julfar, Assistant Director General of Dubai Municipality for Environment and Public Health Services Sector, said that the ship had set out at dawn last Thursday to exit the Dubai Creek, but as a result of its collision with one of the wave breakers it drowned at the entrance to the Creek.
 
"Considering the sensitivity of the site and to stop the spread of goods in a wide area in the water, a specialised team to follow up emergency cases in water channels was called in. The team took all the necessary measures and provided the marine scrappers and manpower to recover the sinking products and the waste of the ship in a record time. The site was surrounded by a sea barrier preventing from the spread and floating of waste in the Creek waters because of the currents of the sea. The team recovered goods fallen from the ship, mostly electrical appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, which are dangerous substances with their components on the marine environment if it is given up in water," he said.
 
Julfar said Dubai Municipality is keen to maintain the cleanliness of waterways and lagoons in the emirate by strengthening its fleet of waterway cleaning vessels and implementing a range of initiatives and campaigns to keep these sites clean and sustainable, including Dubai Creek, Jaddaf Creek, Dubai Water Canal and Business Bay Canal, as well as expansions and new channels such as the Waterfront Market overlooking the fish market and the Deira Harbor Canal as these sites bear tourist, economic and historical importance.
Eng. Abdulmajeed Sifaie, Director of Waste Management Department at Dubai Municipality, added that the marine fleet of Waste Management Department has been prepared and equipped for handling various marine disasters as the Department possesses a variety of marine vehicles that operate with automatic hydraulic system, ensuring high efficiency in cleanliness and minimizing human intervention.
 
He added that the Waterway Cleaning Unit in the Waste Management Department has a 24-hour operational crew for cleaning the waterways of Dubai.
 
Sifaie said that the Waste Management Department makes every effort to carry out daily and continuous cleaning operations on year round conserving the marine environment with a total clearance distance of approximately 32kms.
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