The clean-up work after the oil spill in the port of Brunsbüttel made progress over the Christmas period. "We have now also absorbed most of the absorbable oil," said a spokesman for the emergency command on Tuesday of the German Press Agency. The "thick layers" on the water of the Kiel Canal have been removed. According to the current status, the artificial waterway will not be released before Wednesday.

Around 120 emergency services and three special ships are currently involved in the oil fight, the spokesman said. The busy Kiel Canal was closed on December 21 after large quantities of oil spilled due to a leak in a pipeline. The canal between Kiel on the Baltic Sea and Brunsbüttel (Dithmarschen district) at the mouth of the Elbe in the North Sea is considered the world's busiest artificial sea waterway.