German canal oil spill clean-up progresses, to reopen in next days

The clean-up work from the oil spill in the port of Brunsbüttel in northern Germany is progressing and the waterway is likely to reopen in the coming days, reported dpa.

"We have now absorbed the majority of the absorbable oil," a spokesman for the incident command told dpa on Tuesday. The "thick layers" on the water of the Kiel Canal had been removed, he said.

According to the current state of affairs, the artificial waterway will not be opened before Wednesday.

The spokesperson said that about 120 emergency personnel and three special ships were still involved in the oil spill response.

The busy Kiel Canal was closed on December 21 after a leak in a pipeline caused large quantities of oil to escape.

The canal connects the North Sea at Brunsbüttel to the Baltic Sea at Kiel. It is the world's busiest artificial sea waterway.