HURGHADA - A small oil spill last month, in the sea near Hurghada, has rekindled fears amongst the Red Sea Resort City’s stakeholders that a major incident could wipe the town off the tourist map.

“Our beach is the capital” says Sameh Howaidek, Chairman of the Red Sea Branch of the Egyptian Hotels Association. "Any major oil spill would completely destroy our business.”

Hurghada has grown from a sleepy fishing village in the early 1980s, into one of the biggest resort cities on the Red Sea, with over 40,000 hotel rooms. Its clear waters and world-class reefs draw over 2.5 million tourists a year, generating about 3 billion US dollars and providing jobs for 250,000 residents and temporary workers.

The resort has grown up in the shadow of oil development. Over 180 offshore platforms dot the Gulf of Suez, squeezing the last drops of oil from maturing subsea oil fields.

Leaking well heads, routine spills and passing Suez Canal Tanker Traffic have destroyed coral reefs and blackened beaches in the Northern Gulf.  However, until last month, Hurghada’s resorts and protected offshore islands had been spared.

On June 17,  diving boat operators reported an oil slick in the waters north of Hurghada. The oil fouled over 20km of coastline, including resort beaches in El Gouna and Hurghada. Black sludge also damaged several coral reefs and washed up on the shores of Tawila Island, a protected breeding area for marine birds.

Environmentalists and Red Sea Resort Owners have criticized the Government’s slow response and lack of transparency, in investigating the source of the spill.

The Government belatedly acknowledged that it had cleaned up beaches following a 'limited' oil spill'. A Ministry of Petroleum report released on 24 June, identified four possible culprits:

• A leakage from a passing tanker.
• Oil containers washed out in the sea.
• Sabotaged oil rig equipment.
• Hot weather causing solidified oil on beach rocks to liquefy.

The report stated specifically that the leak could not have come from an oil rig.

Egyptian law requires that all Oil Handling Facilities file an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) that identifies the risks of oil spills and includes an EEAA approved contingency plan for containment and clean-up.

Petroleum companies are required to purchase emergency response equipment for each of their rigs, in accordance with their EIA.

In addition, Petro Environmental Services Company (PESCo) manages four national oil spill response centres on the Red Sea, located in Suez, Ras Gharib, Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.

This spill is more evidence that Red Sea oil concessions should be limited.

The current Red Sea Zoning Regime, which integrates oil and tourism, is a misguided strategy. Oil-related activities should be restricted to the extreme north of the Gulf of Suez, far from the sensitive marine ecosystems that generate tourism revenues.

Oil Minister -  Sameh Fahmy said that Egypt was considering reducing the number of oil rigs operating in the Gulf of Suez. He added that the reduction would make it easier to monitor the remaining platforms.

Last month’s incident was 'a wake-up call'.  Hurghada might not be so lucky next time.  An uncapped well can leak up to 100,000 barrels a day. A much smaller one would completely destroy Hurghada as a tourist destination.

Al Masry Al Youm

#LISA