The United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said on Friday that its monitoring system had detected a tanker oil spill affecting beaches in Umm Al Quwain, one of the country's seven emirates, on its Gulf coast.

Source: Reuters

All beaches and coastal areas in Umm Al Quwain have been temporarily closed, the ministry said. The closures will remain in effect until technical teams complete their assessments and determine the necessary measures to ensure public safety and protect the marine environment, ANI reported, citing the ministry's statement shared on X.

Source: ANI via LatestLY

Immediately after the pollution was detected, the ministry began containment, cleanup and remediation operations in coordination with local and federal authorities, and cordoned off the affected areas, the statement said. Survey operations are ongoing as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the marine environment, Reuters reported.

The ministry confirmed that oil-spill-related odours had been noticed in Sharjah, Ajman and Umm Al Quwain — the three neighbouring northern emirates — while assuring residents that the odours posed no health risks, ANI reported.

The statements reported so far did not name the tanker involved, say how much oil was spilled, or give a cause for the spill. Those details had not been released by the ministry at the time of reporting.

For the large Indian and Punjabi community across the UAE's northern emirates, the practical impact is closed beaches and coastal areas in Umm Al Quwain until assessments finish, and possible odours in Sharjah and Ajman that the ministry says are not a health risk. Residents were not given a reopening date in the statement.