Jordan says finishing oil spill cleanup off southern coast

AMMAN, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Jordan's Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority said on Monday that it has completed cleaning up an oil spill off the kingdom's southern coast and is now working on shoreline oil stains removal.

Works on rehabilitating the beaches started on Monday, Nidal Majali, commissioner for Tourism and Environment in the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, told Xinhua, adding that the oil removal teams on the beaches were not using chemicals in order to protect marine life.

The commissioner said legal measures were taken against the ship causing the incident, and all those affected will receive monetary compensation once their damages were determined.

Local authorities announced on Aug. 14 that they had launched the cleanup work and a probe into a ship docking at the Aqaba container port that allegedly caused the oil spill.

The oil spill, which covered an area of 700 square meters, polluted some coral reefs and damaged equipment of several diving centers, local media reported.