Leak in the culvert of an oil pipeline: the Kiel Canal is closed to shipping

In the port of Brunsbüttel, considerable amounts of oil escape from a leak in a pipeline and flow into the Kiel Canal.

Leak in the culvert of an oil pipeline: the Kiel Canal is closed to shipping

In the port of Brunsbüttel, considerable amounts of oil escape from a leak in a pipeline and flow into the Kiel Canal. According to official information, the oil slick stretches about six kilometers along the waterway. Shipping is suspended.

Large amounts of oil leaked into the Kiel Canal from a leak in a pipeline in the port of Brunsbüttel. The traffic center closed the locks because the oil reached the lock chambers. The fire brigade and technical relief organization began fighting the first. The leak was closed in the afternoon. The duration of the closure of the canal for shipping is not yet foreseeable. Schleswig-Holstein's Environment Minister Tobias Goldschmidt from the Green Party will find out about the oil contamination on site tomorrow, Thursday.

At the request of the Schleswig-Holstein State Office for Coastal Protection, National Park and Marine Protection (LKN), the CCME took over the command of operations and ordered the multi-purpose ship "Neuwerk" and the oil spill response ship "Knechtsand" to Brunsbüttel at the mouth of the Elbe. Both ships started work during the day. The multi-purpose ship "Scharhörn" was to be added.

There was initially no information on the amount of oil that had leaked. According to the emergency command, the oil slick stretched from the Brunsbüttel lock to a length of about six kilometers on the canal.

During the day, emergency services found the cause of the pollution - a leak in a so-called culvert on the land side of a crude oil pipeline on the north bank, according to a spokesman for the emergency command. The line was blocked so that no more oil could escape. Smaller amounts of oil were already noticed on the water on Friday.