Sharjah closes its beaches over the offshore oil spill

Sharjah closed its beaches on 28 October as a precaution against the tanker oil spill, joining Ras Al Khaimah and Umm Al Quwain, with no reopening date. The Sharjah Government Media Bureau announced the temporary closure on Wednesday 28 October as a precautionary measure to prevent marine pollution from the tanker's oil spill reaching the shore, said that specialist teams and the relevant authorities are taking the necessary measures to protect the coastline, and asked beachgoers to comply with official instructions and to follow official channels rather than rumours. The National and Khaleej Times report the closure as covering all of the emirate's beaches, while Gulf News describes it as the beaches of Sharjah city; none of the reports names the east coast beaches at Khor Fakkan or Kalba, and Dibba Al Hisn Beach was separately closed for maintenance and improvement works on 27 October, a closure the municipality has not linked to the spill.

Al Hamriyah Beach had been closed as a precaution since 23 October. All beaches and coastal areas in Umm Al Quwain remain closed until technical teams complete their assessments, and all public beaches in Ras Al Khaimah until further notice; Gulf News's list of 28 October names more than 30 public and hotel beaches in the two emirates, and no closure has been reported for beaches in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Ajman or Fujairah. The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment says the fuel-like odour poses no health risk and advises the public to stay away from any oil that washes ashore; Umm Al Quwain Municipality's containment, cordoning, clean-up and remediation work continues, satellite imagery from the European Union's Copernicus programme reported by Reuters showed the slick widening towards the Umm Al Quwain coast between 19 and 24 October, and the authorities have still not named the tanker or confirmed the cause.

No reopening date has been announced for any of the closed beaches. Visitors planning a beach day in Sharjah or the northern emirates should check with their hotel or the emirate's official channels before setting out, and stay away from closed beaches and any oil washed ashore.