Egyptian officials have controlled an oil spill that spread three kilometers along the South Sinai coast near Ras Badran and Abu Redis. The oil reached a section of a beach before workers found the source and sealed it.
The Ministry of Local Development and Environment reported that the leak came from a crude oil pipeline. The pipeline has now been. Checked to make sure it is sealed.
Minister Manal Awad said pollution-control teams and divers are still at the site cleaning up oil and checking the water to ensure no new oil appears.
The spill was first noticed when the Suez office of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency saw oil on the sea two kilometers from Ras Badran. A team working with South Sinai officials and other groups went to look into it.
Follow-up monitoring found that the contamination had spread further than initially detected, stretching around three kilometres and touching parts of the public beach at Abu Redis. Crews collected samples for lab testing and oil fingerprinting to pinpoint the source and gauge the damage to marine and coastal life.
Investigators partially shut down nearby offshore production platforms while inspecting facilities in the area, eventually tracing the leak to a specific point on the Ras Badran pipeline.
State petroleum operator Petrobel then sent in a specialized offshore maintenance vessel to carry out repairs; the ministry says follow-up checks confirmed the line is now sealed, with no further leakage detected. Output at the affected platforms is expected to resume once final safety checks are complete.
Awad has ordered a full technical review to establish what caused the failure and how to prevent a repeat. Environmental teams will keep tracking water quality, shoreline conditions and marine life, along with any risk to nearby tourist resorts.
The ministry said it would pursue legal action against whoever is found responsible, with compensation and fines to be set once lab results and damage assessments are finalized.
